Property Frames

Abstract

How can we most effectively weaken property rights? Property law confronts circumstances where owner’s excessive perceptions of their ownership rights impose social costs, frustrate policy goals, and hamper the very institutions meant to support private property. Groundbreaking research on cognitive framing suggests an answer to the question of how to selectively attenuate ownership perceptions. In a novel application of this research, we contend that property law may 'set frames' for individual owners. Specifically, we hypothesize that framing property as bundles of rights and forewarning of limitations weakens perceptions of ownership and decreases resistance to subsequent restrictions. We conducted experiments to evaluate this claim and found that both bundle/discrete asset framing and forewarning framing affect perceptions of ownership, rights infringement, valuation, and satisfaction. Our study shows that 'layering' both of these conditions (bundle framing and forewarning) have a stronger, synergistic impact than the sum of each effect alone. The potential applications of this research to property theory are numerous. Legislators, judges, and regulatory agencies craft legal measures that respond to, or even capitalize on, strong, pre-existing frames of citizen-owners. These institutional players may also endeavor to limit spillovers and other social harms by reframing property as a limited set of use rights in areas of law such as pollution rights, intellectual property, and common interest communities.

Keywords: property, psychology, framing, environment, intellectual property