IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/urbstu/v51y2014i10p2052-2067.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Ambiguous Property Rights: A Taxonomic and Exploratory Account of Post-colonial Rural Housing in Chinese Hong Kong

Author

Listed:
  • Lawrence Lai
  • Frank Lorne

Abstract

This paper explains the nature of David Li’s concept of ambiguous property rights and three angles to see right ambiguity from a Coasian-constrained choice-theoretical perspective and elaborate on that ambiguity in terms of five scenarios of de jure and de facto rights. The case of indigenous village housing in post-colonial Hong Kong under a mature system of the rule of law is used to demonstrate the ambiguities due to a gap between de jure and de facto property rights that may not degenerate into anarchy due to rational choices made under common law constraints driven ultimately by the land market. The implications of the case study for evaluating ambiguities in property rights in China are also discussed.

Suggested Citation

  • Lawrence Lai & Frank Lorne, 2014. "Ambiguous Property Rights: A Taxonomic and Exploratory Account of Post-colonial Rural Housing in Chinese Hong Kong," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 51(10), pages 2052-2067, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:urbstu:v:51:y:2014:i:10:p:2052-2067
    DOI: 10.1177/0042098013505924
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0042098013505924
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/0042098013505924?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Alex Robson & Stergios Skaperdas, 2008. "Costly enforcement of property rights and the Coase theorem," Economic Theory, Springer;Society for the Advancement of Economic Theory (SAET), vol. 36(1), pages 109-128, July.
    2. 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.
    3. Gary H. Jefferson & Thomas G. Rawski, 2002. "China's emerging market for property rights: Theoretical and empirical perspectives1," The Economics of Transition, The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, vol. 10(3), pages 585-617, November.
    4. Gary H. Jefferson & Thomas G. Rawski, 2002. "China's emerging market for property rights: Theoretical and empirical perspectives," The Economics of Transition, The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, vol. 10(3), pages 586-617, November.
    5. Galiani, Sebastian & Schargrodsky, Ernesto, 2010. "Property rights for the poor: Effects of land titling," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 94(9-10), pages 700-729, October.
    6. Zerbe, Richard O. & Anderson, C. Leigh, 2001. "Culture And Fairness In The Development Of Institutions In The California Gold Fields," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 61(1), pages 114-143, March.
    7. David D. Li, 1996. "A Theory of Ambiguous Property Rights in Transition Economies: The Case of the Chinese Non-State Sector," William Davidson Institute Working Papers Series 8, William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan.
    8. R. H. Coase, 2013. "The Problem of Social Cost," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 56(4), pages 837-877.
    9. Cheung, Steven N S, 1974. "A Theory of Price Control," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 17(1), pages 53-71, April.
    10. Nhat Le, 2004. "Contingent delegation and ambiguous property rights: The case of China's Reform," Annals of Economics and Statistics, GENES, issue 75-76, pages 309-329.
    11. Tian, Guoqiang, 2000. "Property Rights and the Nature of Chinese Collective Enterprises," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 28(2), pages 247-268, June.
    12. Li, David D., 1996. "A Theory of Ambiguous Property Rights in Transition Economies: The Case of the Chinese Non-State Sector," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 23(1), pages 1-19, August.
    13. repec:adr:anecst:y:2004:i:75-76:p:15 is not listed on IDEAS
    14. Barzel,Yoram, 1997. "Economic Analysis of Property Rights," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521597135, February.
    15. Umbeck, John, 1977. "The California gold rush: A study of emerging property rights," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 14(3), pages 197-226, July.
    16. Kim, Annette M., 2007. "North versus South: The Impact of Social Norms in the Market Pricing of Private Property Rights in Vietnam," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 35(12), pages 2079-2095, December.
    17. Jiahua Che & Yingyi Qian, 1998. "Insecure Property Rights and Government Ownership of Firms," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 113(2), pages 467-496.
    18. Jieming Zhu, 2002. "Urban Development under Ambiguous Property Rights: A Case of China’s Transition Economy," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(1), pages 41-57, March.
    19. Donald J. Boudreaux & Randall G. Holcombe, 1989. "Government By Contract," Public Finance Review, , vol. 17(3), pages 264-280, July.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Zhang, Xiaobo, 2006. "Asymmetric property rights in China's economic growth," DSGD discussion papers 28, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    2. Lu, Jiangyong & Tao, Zhigang & Yang, Zhi, 2010. "The costs and benefits of government control: Evidence from China's collectively-owned enterprises," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 21(2), pages 282-292, June.
    3. Bryan Leonard & Gary D. Libecap, 2016. "Collective Action by Contract: Prior Appropriation and the Development of Irrigation in the Western United States," NBER Working Papers 22185, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    4. Li Tian, 2014. "Property Rights, Land Values and Urban Development," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 15856.
    5. Lueck, Dean & Miceli, Thomas J., 2007. "Property Law," Handbook of Law and Economics, in: A. Mitchell Polinsky & Steven Shavell (ed.), Handbook of Law and Economics, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 3, pages 183-257, Elsevier.
      • Dean Lueck & Thomas J. Miceli, 2004. "Property Law," Working papers 2004-04, University of Connecticut, Department of Economics.
    6. Li Tian, 2008. "The Chengzhongcun Land Market in China: Boon or Bane? — A Perspective on Property Rights," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(2), pages 282-304, June.
    7. Thanh Bao Nguyen & Erwin Van de Krabben & D. Ary A. Samsura, 2017. "A curious case of property privatization: two examples of the tragedy of the anticommons in Ho Chi Minh City-Vietnam," International Journal of Urban Sciences, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 21(1), pages 72-90, January.
    8. Le, Manh-Duc & Pieri, Fabio & Zaninotto, Enrico, 2019. "From central planning towards a market economy: The role of ownership and competition in Vietnamese firms’ productivity," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 47(3), pages 693-716.
    9. Feng, Xunan & Johansson, Anders C. & Zhang, Tianyu, 2014. "Political participation and entrepreneurial initial public offerings in China," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 42(2), pages 269-285.
    10. Mehrdad Vahabi, 2011. "Appropriation, violent enforcement, and transaction costs: a critical survey," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 147(1), pages 227-253, April.
    11. Clay, Karen & Wright, Gavin, 2005. "Order without law? Property rights during the California gold rush," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 42(2), pages 155-183, April.
    12. Besley, Timothy & Ghatak, Maitreesh, 2010. "Property Rights and Economic Development," Handbook of Development Economics, in: Dani Rodrik & Mark Rosenzweig (ed.), Handbook of Development Economics, edition 1, volume 5, chapter 0, pages 4525-4595, Elsevier.
    13. Philipp Denter & Dana Sisak, 2010. ""Who's the thief?": Asymmetric Information and the Creation of Property Rights," University of St. Gallen Department of Economics working paper series 2010 2010-27, Department of Economics, University of St. Gallen.
    14. Gerald Friedman, "undated". "The Sanctity of Property Rights in American History," Working Papers wp14, Political Economy Research Institute, University of Massachusetts at Amherst.
    15. Bischoff, Ivo, 2002. "Efficiency-Enhancing Effects Of Private And Collective Enterprises In Transitional China," Discussion Papers 26467, University of Giessen, Center for International Development and Environmental Research.
    16. Tetsushi Sonobe & Keijiro Otsuka, 2004. "Productivity Effects of TVE Privatization: The Case Study of Garment and Metal-Casting Enterprises in the Greater Yangtze River Region," NBER Chapters, in: Governance, Regulation, and Privatization in the Asia-Pacific Region, pages 231-247, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    17. Kirsten Foss & Nicolai Foss, 2001. "Assets, Attributes and Ownership," International Journal of the Economics of Business, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 8(1), pages 19-37.
    18. Gary D. Libecap, 2018. "Property Rights to Frontier Land and Minerals: US Exceptionalism," NBER Working Papers 24544, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    19. Zhong Qin & Vinod Mishra & Russell Smyth, 2016. "An empirical examination of endogenous ownership in Chinese private enterprises," Journal of the Asia Pacific Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 21(4), pages 513-530, October.
    20. Yingyi Qian, 1999. "The Institutional Foundations of China's Market Transition," Working Papers 99011, Stanford University, Department of Economics.

    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:sae:urbstu:v:51:y:2014:i:10:p:2052-2067. 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: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.gla.ac.uk/departments/urbanstudiesjournal .

    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.