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Exchange Efficiency with Weak Ownership Rights

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  • Oren Bar-Gill
  • Nicola Persico

Abstract

We show that efficient exchange obtains independently of the degree to which a legal system protects the rights of owners. We study a number of different legal rules, including property rules (strong protection), liability rules (any party can take the owner's asset but must pay a legally determined compensation), and even rules that protect the owner's interests very weakly (liability rules with a very low compensation level). Efficiency is obtained as long as the degree of protection provided by law and by the bargaining protocol is not "too" inversely correlated with a party's valuation of the asset.

Suggested Citation

  • Oren Bar-Gill & Nicola Persico, 2016. "Exchange Efficiency with Weak Ownership Rights," American Economic Journal: Microeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 8(4), pages 230-267, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:aea:aejmic:v:8:y:2016:i:4:p:230-67
    Note: DOI: 10.1257/mic.20140232
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

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    Cited by:

    1. Anderlini, Luca & Felli, Leonardo & Riboni, Alessandro, 2020. "Legal efficiency and consistency," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 121(C).
    2. Dufwenberg, Martin & Van Essen, Matt, 2018. "King of the Hill: Giving backward induction its best shot," Games and Economic Behavior, Elsevier, vol. 112(C), pages 125-138.
    3. Oren Bar-Gill & Christoph Engel, 2020. "Property is Dummy Proof: An Experiment," Discussion Paper Series of the Max Planck Institute for Research on Collective Goods 2020_02, Max Planck Institute for Research on Collective Goods.
    4. Rakesh Chaturvedi, 2021. "Stability and efficiency in a model of production and pillage," Indian Economic Review, Springer, vol. 56(2), pages 313-333, December.
    5. Carmine Guerriero, 2023. "Property rights, transaction costs, and the limits of the market," Economics of Governance, Springer, vol. 24(2), pages 143-176, June.
    6. Henry E. Smith, 2019. "Complexity and the Cathedral: making law and economics more Calabresian," European Journal of Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 48(1), pages 43-63, August.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • D21 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Firm Behavior: Theory
    • D51 - Microeconomics - - General Equilibrium and Disequilibrium - - - Exchange and Production Economies
    • K11 - Law and Economics - - Basic Areas of Law - - - Property Law
    • O34 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Intellectual Property and Intellectual Capital
    • P14 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Capitalist Economies - - - Property Rights

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