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A simple, ecologically rational rule for settling found property disputes

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  • Wilson, Bart J.

Abstract

Who has property in a found item X, which is contained in Y? The finder of X or the person who has property in Y? The common law says it depends. It depends upon whether the owner of Y knew about X, or whether X was lost or mislaid, or how small the weight of X is relative to Y (as compared to its value), or whether the finder was an employee of the owner of Y, to name just a few. Wilson (2020) hypothesizes that humans universally cognize property as being contained in a thing. A testable implication of the hypothesis reveals a simpler, clearer rule for settling found property disputes in the common law: if A has property in Y and X is in Y, then A has property in X, even if B finds X. Using a 2 × 2 design, I report the results of a three-dimensional virtual world experiment to test how incentivized panels of participants award a found item to one of two actual parties who have an all-or-nothing financial stake in the panel's decision. The results of the experiment strongly support the hypothesis, even, unexpectedly, under counterfactual conditions.

Suggested Citation

  • Wilson, Bart J., 2020. "A simple, ecologically rational rule for settling found property disputes," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 178(C), pages 660-671.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jeborg:v:178:y:2020:i:c:p:660-671
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jebo.2020.08.008
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Vernon L. Smith, 2003. "Constructivist and Ecological Rationality in Economics," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 93(3), pages 465-508, June.
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Property rights; Common law; Lost property; Found property; Experimental economics; Durfee v Jones;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C92 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Design of Experiments - - - Laboratory, Group Behavior
    • K11 - Law and Economics - - Basic Areas of Law - - - Property Law

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