Property Rights to Frontier Land and Minerals: Us Exceptionalism
NBER WORKING PAPER SERIES PROPERTY RIGHTS TO FRONTIER LAND AND MINERALS: US EXCEPTIONALISM Gary D. Libecap Working Paper 24544 http://www.nber.org/papers/w24544 NATIONAL BUREAU OF ECONOMIC RESEARCH 1050 Massachusetts Avenue Cambridge, MA 02138 April 2018 Prepared for the Handbook of Cliometrics, 2nd ed., edited by Claude Diebolt and Michael Haupert. Very helpful comments and direction were provided by Daron Acemoglu, Susan Carter, Robert Ellickson, Eric Edwards. Stanley Engerman, Richard Epstein, Peter Lindert, Deirdre McCloskey, Larry Neal, Claire Priest, Richard Sutch, Tom Weiss, and Gavin Wright. Excellent research assistance was provided by Chester Lindley. The views expressed herein are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Bureau of Economic Research. NBER working papers are circulated for discussion and comment purposes. They have not been peer-reviewed or been subject to the review by the NBER Board of Directors that accompanies official NBER publications. © 2018 by Gary D. Libecap. All rights reserved. Short sections of text, not to exceed two paragraphs, may be quoted without explicit permission provided that full credit, including © notice, is given to the source. Property Rights to Frontier Land and Minerals: US Exceptionalism Gary D. Libecap NBER Working Paper No. 24544 April 2018 JEL No. K11,N5,N51,N56,Q15,Q24,Q32,Q35 ABSTRACT Property rights are the most fundamental institution in any society. They determine who has decision-making authority over assets and who bears the costs and benefits of those decisions. They assign ownership, wealth, political influence, and social standing. They make markets possible; define timelines; and provide incentives for investment, innovation, and trade.
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