Anticommons: a very brief introduction with selected applications

Anticommons have been arousing the interest of researchers working in the field of law and economics for over 20 years. This article outlines the fundamental concept of anticommons in a non-technical way. First, it characterizes the anticommons by comparing them with the better-known problem of the commons, and then proceeds to present a simple graphical model of said phenomenon. Finally, four selected groups of applications of the theory are briefly discussed: property, patents, antitrust, and bureaucracy. The paper also suggests that a simple conceptual grid constituting the building blocks of the discussed theory can be found already in Carl Menger’s pathbreaking work written a century and a half ago.