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Scott Shackelford

Selected Works

Natural Resources Law

Publication Year

Articles 1 - 3 of 3

Full-Text Articles in Law

Neither Magic Bullet Nor Lost Cause: Land Titling And The Wealth Of Nations, Scott Shackelford Mar 2012

Neither Magic Bullet Nor Lost Cause: Land Titling And The Wealth Of Nations, Scott Shackelford

Scott Shackelford

This Article offers a critique of land titling movements. Formalizing property rights is a popular idea. Endorsements range from Ronald Coase, Milton Friedman, Francis Fukayama, and Jeanne Kirkpatrick, to David Owen, and Margaret Thatcher. This Article seeks to determine whether such widespread praise is justified based on an analysis of the available empirical literature on the subject. I argue that instead of property rights formalization being a panacea cure for alleviating poverty in the developing world, it is but one part of a more holistic process of legal reform that is required before economic development might be catalyzed and property …


Governing The Final Frontier: A Polycentric Approach To Managing Space Weaponization And Debris, Scott Shackelford Feb 2012

Governing The Final Frontier: A Polycentric Approach To Managing Space Weaponization And Debris, Scott Shackelford

Scott Shackelford

Effective space governance has become increasingly important to spacefaring and non-spacefaring powers alike given the interrelated problems of space weaponization and debris management, but thus far the applicable legal regimes remain amorphous and outdated. For example, the 1967 Outer Space Treaty (OST) establishes space as being free from national appropriation, while setting out certain property rights. But legal ambiguities persist, such as regarding what weapons are permitted in space since the military use of space has not been forbidden, only the placement of weapons of mass destruction in orbit and the establishment of military bases on the moon or other …


Was Selden Right? The Expansion Of Closed Seas And Its Consequences, Scott Shackelford Aug 2010

Was Selden Right? The Expansion Of Closed Seas And Its Consequences, Scott Shackelford

Scott Shackelford

This Article focuses on the relationship between the legal regimes governing offshore resources in the continental shelves and the deep seabed, particularly in reference to the extent to which continental shelf claims are encroaching on the deep seabed. The question of how well these respective legal regimes regulate resource exploitation will also be considered, along with an analysis of the underlying reasons driving change in these governance structures. I argue that the primary issue is one of whether vague rules, particularly UNCLOS Article 76, are working in terms of incentivizing sustainable, peaceful development of offshore resources.