Common Property Resources held in common and available for use by all or any members of society with few restrictions except to prevent exclusive use or waste Waterways, common land (in traditional agricultural communities), parks, libraries, streets

Collective Property Resources held in common, but which collective decisions have dedicated to use by a few to (ideally) benefit the whole society Universities, schools, other state property, water allocations, broadcast airwaves

Private Property Resources governed by the decisions of particular individuals, firms or private associations. Personal homes, corporate property, condominiums and cooperatives

Traditional principles of private property rights Control of the use of the property Derivation of benefit from the property (examples: mining rights and rent) Ability to transfer or sell the property The right to exclude others from the property.

Traditional private property rights do not include: Uses that unreasonably interfere with the property rights of other private parties (who themselves the right of quiet enjoyment) Uses that unreasonably interfere with public property rights, including uses that interfere with the health, safety, peace or convenience of the public.

Three Theories of the Origin of Private Property Thomas Hobbes John Locke David Hume (and Rousseau’s reversal of Hume)

Thomas Hobbes on the Origin of Private Property The sovereign … prescribes the rules of property, since in the state of nature there is no property

John Locke and Origins of Property Every man has a property in his own person: this no body has any right to but himself. The labour of his body, and the work of his hands, we may say, are properly his. Whatsoever then he removes out of the state that nature hath provided, and left it in, he hath mixed his labour with, and joined to it something that is his own, and thereby makes it his property.

David Hume and Origins of Property [T]he establishment of the rule, concerning the stability of possession … [is] absolutely necessary to human society… The convention concerning the stability of possession is entered into, in order to cut off all occasions of discord and contention; and this end would never be attained, were we allowed to apply this rule differently in every particular case…

Rousseau’s Reversal of Hume The first man who, having enclosed a piece of ground, bethought himself of saying “This is mine,” and found people simple enough to believe him, was the real founder of civil society. From how many crimes, wars and murders, from how many horrors and misfortunes might not anyone have saved mankind, by pulling up the stakes, or filling up the ditch

Utah Water Law All water not already appropriated is available for use by any person for a "beneficial" purpose. The appropriator does not "own" water, but rather holds the right to perpetually use the water appropriated. This property right may be conveyed separately by deed, or transferred by shares of stock, or with the land.

Intellectual Property Includes patents, trademarks, copyrighted works (books, movies, recordings, etc) Provides monopoly for limited period of time in exchange for creativity Problems include whether an innovation is properly an invention, a discovery, and not an obvious next step from existing knowledge