Economic Analysis of Property (Contemporary Economics)

Author: (USA) Barzel, Y. (Author), Fei Fangyu, Duan Yicai (Translator)
Publisher:
Publication Date: 1997-06-01
Features: The Economic Analysis of Property Rights is an introduction to the research findings of Barzel himself and several economists closely associated with his intellectual development. Barzel gained fame for his research on the "queuing problem" (Chapter 2) and the economic analysis of slavery (Chapter 6). "Queuing" is considered the most important non-market resource allocation mechanism. Barzel also derived significant insights into the origins of the state and the rule of law by studying the rise and fall of slavery. In Chapter 6, he criticizes Fogel's "non-institutional economics" perspective, which was awarded the Nobel Prize in Economics for his work on slavery. Barzel argues that the increasing costs of slave owners supervising slave labor and the rising expenses for the government to protect slave owners' property rights over slaves ultimately led to the abolition of slavery. At the beginning of this book, Barzel analyzes the different meanings of property rights in economics and law. Legally, the concept of property rights emphasizes the rights granted by the state to individuals over goods, focusing on the legitimacy of these rights. In economics, the concept of property rights emphasizes their value, which is reflected in the direct or indirect consumption of the goods (or services provided by the goods) by the property owners. If legal property rights do not affect people's actual interests, then such legal property rights are meaningless. In this sense, Barzel states that economic property rights are the goal that legal property rights strive to achieve, while legal property rights are the means to realize economic property rights.