Commons, Anticommons, Semicommons

Fennell, Lee Anne

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Commons, Anticommons, Semicommons

RESEARCH HANDBOOK ON THE ECONOMICS OF PROPERTY LAW, Kenneth Ayotte, Henry E. Smith, eds., Edward Elgar, 2011

24 Pages Posted: 25 Feb 2009 Last revised: 8 Apr 2011

See all articles by Lee Anne Fennell

Lee Anne Fennell

University of Chicago - Law School

Date Written: February 8, 2010

Abstract

This handbook chapter offers a brief introduction to the commons, anticommons, and semicommons models and shows how the three fit together in a unified theoretical framework. I suggest that each of these templates is best understood as a lens for apprehending a single core, challenging fact about resource systems -- their need to accommodate multiple uses that are most efficiently pursued at different scales, whether simultaneously or over time.

Keywords: commons, anticommons, semicommons, prisoner's dilemma, chicken game, holdouts, scale

Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation

Fennell, Lee Anne, Commons, Anticommons, Semicommons (February 8, 2010). RESEARCH HANDBOOK ON THE ECONOMICS OF PROPERTY LAW, Kenneth Ayotte, Henry E. Smith, eds., Edward Elgar, 2011, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1348267