IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/cpp/issued/v20y1994i4p415-429.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Aboriginal Property Rights in Canada: A Contractarian Interpretation of R. v. Sparrow

Author

Listed:
  • Kenneth L. Avio

Abstract

This paper attempts to sketch a coherent economic account of aboriginal property rights as implied in Sparrow. The qualitative characteristics of such rights are discussed and evaluated from the contractarian perspective of James Buchanan. Inalienability is examined in the context of an aboriginal right to fish. The public-good nature of cultural identity and the corresponding free-rider problem are seen to rationalise the proscription of a commercial aspect to this right. The paper legitimises the posited characteristics as the reasoned outcome of hypothetical bargaining, given the historical goals and threat values of the Crown and aboriginal peoples, and assuming "communicative rationality."

Suggested Citation

  • Kenneth L. Avio, 1994. "Aboriginal Property Rights in Canada: A Contractarian Interpretation of R. v. Sparrow," Canadian Public Policy, University of Toronto Press, vol. 20(4), pages 415-429, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:cpp:issued:v:20:y:1994:i:4:p:415-429
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0317-0861%28199412%2920%3A4%3C415%3AAPRICA%3E2.0.CO%3B2-I
    Download Restriction: only available to JSTOR subscribers
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Umbeck, John, 1981. "Might Makes Rights: A Theory of the Formation and Initial Distribution of Property Rights," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 19(1), pages 38-59, January.
    2. Viktor Vanberg & James M. Buchanan, 1989. "Interests and Theories in Constitutional Choice," Journal of Theoretical Politics, , vol. 1(1), pages 49-62, January.
    3. McChesney, Fred S, 1990. "Government as Definer of Property Rights: Indian Lands, Ethnic Externalities, and Bureaucratic Budgets," The Journal of Legal Studies, University of Chicago Press, vol. 19(2), pages 297-335, June.
    4. Gordon, Scott, 1976. "The New Contractarians," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 84(3), pages 573-590, June.
    5. Carlson, Leonard A., 1981. "Land allotment and the decline of American Indian farming," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 18(2), pages 128-154, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Ian Keay & Cherie Metcalf, 2004. "Aboriginal Rights, Customary Law and the Economics of Renewable Resource Exploitation," Canadian Public Policy, University of Toronto Press, vol. 30(1), pages 1-27, March.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Carlos, Ann M. & Feir, Donna L. & Redish, Angela, 2022. "Indigenous Nations and the Development of the U.S. Economy: Land, Resources, and Dispossession," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 82(2), pages 516-555, June.
    2. Laurel Wheeler, 2019. "Property Rights, Place-Based Policies, and Economic Development," Working Papers 19-16, Center for Economic Studies, U.S. Census Bureau.
    3. Harris,Colin & Cai,Meina & Murtazashvili,Ilia & Murtazashvili,Jennifer Brick, 2020. "The Origins and Consequences of Property Rights," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9781108969055.
    4. Leonard, Bryan & Parker, Dominic P. & Anderson, Terry L., 2020. "Land quality, land rights, and indigenous poverty," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 143(C).
    5. Jordan K. Lofthouse, 2019. "Liberty versus Bureaucracy on Native American Lands," Journal of Private Enterprise, The Association of Private Enterprise Education, vol. 34(Spring 20), pages 87-101.
    6. Jordan Karl Lofthouse, 2019. "Culture and Native American economic development," Journal of Entrepreneurship and Public Policy, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 9(1), pages 21-39, November.
    7. Heine Klaus & Mause Karsten, 2003. "Politikberatung als informationsökonomisches Problem," Journal of Economics and Statistics (Jahrbuecher fuer Nationaloekonomie und Statistik), De Gruyter, vol. 223(4), pages 479-490, August.
    8. Peter T. Leeson, 2009. "The Laws of Lawlessness," The Journal of Legal Studies, University of Chicago Press, vol. 38(2), pages 471-503, June.
    9. Randall G. Holcombe, 2020. "James M. Buchanan’s constitutional project: past and future," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 183(3), pages 371-387, June.
    10. Ellerman David, 2004. "The Market Mechanism of Appropriation," Journal des Economistes et des Etudes Humaines, De Gruyter, vol. 14(2), pages 1-21, December.
    11. Herbst, Luisa & Konrad, Kai A. & Morath, Florian, 2017. "Balance of power and the propensity of conflict," Games and Economic Behavior, Elsevier, vol. 103(C), pages 168-184.
    12. Carlisle Ford Runge, 1984. "Strategic Interdependence in Models of Property Rights," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 66(5), pages 807-813.
    13. Margolis, Michael & Shogren, Jason F., 2002. "Unprotected Resources and Voracious World Markets," Discussion Papers 10635, Resources for the Future.
    14. Karlson, Nils, 2012. "The Limits of Pragmatism in Institutional Change," Ratio Working Papers 194, The Ratio Institute.
    15. Sara Singleton, 1999. "Commons Problems, Collective Action and Efficiency," Journal of Theoretical Politics, , vol. 11(3), pages 367-391, July.
    16. Hotte, Louis & McFerrin, Randy & Wills, Douglas, 2013. "On the dual nature of weak property rights," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 35(4), pages 659-678.
    17. Matyukha, Andriy, 2017. "Business groups in agriculture impact of ownership structures on performance: The case of Russia's agroholdings," Studies on the Agricultural and Food Sector in Transition Economies 254051, Institute of Agricultural Development in Transition Economies (IAMO).
    18. Will, Matthias Georg & Pies, Ingo, 2014. "Discourse and regulation failures: The ambivalent influence of NGOs on political organizations," Discussion Papers 2014-2, Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg, Chair of Economic Ethics.
    19. Roth, M. Garrett & Skarbek, David, 2014. "Prison Gangs and the Community Responsibility System," Review of Behavioral Economics, now publishers, vol. 1(3), pages 223-243, May.
    20. Akee, Randall K. Q., 2006. "Checkerboards and Coase: Transactions Costs and Efficiency in Land Markets," IZA Discussion Papers 2438, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:cpp:issued:v:20:y:1994:i:4:p:415-429. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Iver Chong (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.utpjournals.press/loi/cpp .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.