Assets, attributes, and ownership

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    Abstract

    The notion of full asset ownership is important in economics, for example, in recent work on the boundaries of the firm. Much of this work has been taken up with the issue why it matters who owns an asset. However, recognizing that assets have multiple attributes, and that these may be subject to capture in a world of positive measurement and enforcement costs, implies that the notion of full asset ownership is problematic. New property theorists sidestep these issues by implicitly assuming that residual rights of control are perfectly enforced (i.e., full asset ownership obtains). We discuss the notion of property rights and ownership in a positive enforcement and measurement cost setting, and suggest that the new property rights model is a part of a more overarching perspective, which also includes older contributions to property rights economics.
    Original languageEnglish
    Place of PublicationKøbenhavn
    PublisherInstitut for Industriøkonomi og Virksomhedsstrategi, Handelshøjskolen i København
    Number of pages36
    ISBN (Print)8778690536
    Publication statusPublished - 2000
    SeriesWorking Paper / Department of Industrial Economics and Strategy. Copenhagen Business School
    Number2000-3
    ISSN1398-7461

    Keywords

    • Ownership
    • Property rights
    • Economic organization

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