Property Rules And Liability Rules: The Cathedral In Another Light, James Krier, Stewart Schwab
Jun 2015
Property Rules And Liability Rules: The Cathedral In Another Light, James Krier, Stewart Schwab
Stewart J Schwab
Ronald Coase's essay on "The Problem of Social Cost" introduced the world to transaction costs, and the introduction laid the foundation for an ongoing cottage industry in law and economics. And of all the law-and-economics scholarship built on Coase's insights, perhaps the most widely known and influential contribution has been Calabresi and Melamed's discussion of what they called "property rules" and "liability rules."' Those rules and the methodology behind them are our subjects here. We have a number of objectives, the most basic of which is to provide a much needed primer for those students, scholars, and lawyers who are …
Bubbles (Or, Some Reflections On The Basic Laws Of Human Relations), Donald J. Kochan
Dec 2014
Bubbles (Or, Some Reflections On The Basic Laws Of Human Relations), Donald J. Kochan
Donald J. Kochan
Very few of us want to live in the absolute isolation of a “bubble.” Most humans cherish the capacity to interact with their external environment even when we know that, at times, such exposure makes us susceptible to all sorts of negative effects ranging from mere annoyance to the contraction of deadly illnesses. Yet, because there are so many positive elements and benefits from that interaction and exposure, we often are willing to take the bitter with the sweet. We tolerate much external exposure to bad things in order to take advantage of the collisions with the good things that …
Keepings, Donald J. Kochan
Dec 2014
Keepings, Donald J. Kochan
Donald J. Kochan
Individuals usually prefer to keep what they own; property law develops around that assumption. Alternatively stated, we prefer to choose whether and how to part with what we own. Just as we hold affection and attachment for our memories, captured in the lyrics of the George Gershwin classic, so too do most individuals adopt a “they can’t take that away from me” approach to property ownership.
We often focus on the means of acquisition or transfer in property law. We look less often at the legal rules that support one’s ability to keep what one owns. Yet, it is precisely …
A Framework For Understanding Property Regulation And Land Use Control From A Dynamic Perspective, Donald J. Kochan
Dec 2014
A Framework For Understanding Property Regulation And Land Use Control From A Dynamic Perspective, Donald J. Kochan
Donald J. Kochan
Our land use control system operates across a variety of multidimensional and dynamic categories. Learning to navigate within and between these categories requires an appreciation for their interconnected, dynamic, and textured components and an awareness of alternative mechanisms for achieving one’s land use control preferences and one’s desired ends. Whether seeking to minimize controls as a property owner or attempting to place controls on the land uses of another, one should take time to understand the full ecology of the system. This Article looks at four broad categories of control: (1) no controls, or the state of nature; (2) judicial …