The Property Right Paradigm

B-Tier
Journal: Journal of Economic History
Year: 1973
Volume: 33
Issue: 1
Pages: 16-27

Authors (2)

Alchian, Armen A. Demsetz, Harold (not in RePEc)

Score contribution per author:

1.005 = (α=2.01 / 2 authors) × 1.0x B-tier

α: calibrated so average coauthorship-adjusted count equals average raw count

Abstract

Economics textbooks invariably describe the important economic choices that all societies must make by the following three questions: What goods are to be produced? How are these goods to be produced? Who is to get what is produced? This way of stating social choice problems is misleading. Economic organizations necessarily do resolve these issues in one fashion or another, but even the most centralized societies do not and cannot specify the answer to these questions in advance and in detail. It is more useful and nearer to the truth to view a social system as relying on techniques, rules, or customs to resolve conflicts that arise in the use of scarce resources rather than imagining that societies specify the particular uses to which resources will be put.

Technical Details

RePEc Handle
repec:cup:jechis:v:33:y:1973:i:01:p:16-27_07
Journal Field
Economic History
Author Count
2
Added to Database
2026-01-24