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- Title
The Tragedy of the Anticommons: A Concise Introduction and Lexicon.
- Authors
Heller, Michael
- Abstract
This article gives a concise introduction to the 'tragedy of the anticommons.' The anticommons thesis is simple: when too many people own pieces of one thing, nobody can use it. Usually, private ownership creates wealth. But too much ownership has the opposite effect - it leads to wasteful underuse. This is a free market paradox that shows up all across the global economy. If too many owners control a single resource, cooperation breaks down, wealth disappears, and everybody loses. Conceptually, underuse in an anticommons mirrors the familiar problem of overuse in a 'tragedy of the commons.' The field of anticommons studies is now well-established. Over a thousand scholars have detailed examples from across the innovation frontier, including drug patenting, telecom licensing, climate change, compulsory land purchase, oil field unitisation, music and art copyright, and post-socialist economic transition. Fixing anticommons tragedy is a key challenge for any legal system committed to innovation and economic growth.
- Subjects
COMMONS; PROPERTY rights; FREE enterprise -- Social aspects; WEALTH; DRUG patents; TELECOMMUNICATION licenses; PROPERTY -- Social aspects; COPYRIGHT of music
- Publication
Modern Law Review, 2013, Vol 76, Issue 1, p6
- ISSN
0026-7961
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1111/1468-2230.12000