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China: Fragmented Rights And Tragedy Of Anticommons:Evidence From China’S Coastal Waters, Bing Shui

Journal of Civil Law Studies

The ownership of, and rights to, coastal waters are exhibited on a cumulative scale ranging from commons-like to private use. As an example of a natural resource with complex and interlinked ecosystems, coastal waters give rise to many kinds of legal norms and pol-icy instruments. As shown by my investigation of China’s coastal waters, people are willing to pay for legal rights which guarantee exclusive access, regardless of the relatively high cost. The statistical data further reveals that, when coastal waters are divided, there is a negative correlation between fragmentation of the seas and sea-based production. Therefore, based on the …