Common Property, Reciprocity, and Community

Abstract

This article examines common property as both concept and institutional structure and suggests that common property, reciprocity, and community are complementary, useful constructs for institutional analysis. The argument is based on the following key premises: undesirable consequences of private markets and desirable consequences of alternative institutional arrangements have generally been overlooked and underestimated; purely private markets, although providing incentives and rewards for initiative and innovation, also create increasingly harmful side-effects; and anthropogenic ecosystem disruption requires major social and economic restructuring, including fundamental changes in beliefs, attitudes, and incentives. The argument is that common property, reciprocity, and community development can all play constructive roles in this restructuring. The weaknesses and inconsistencies in the neoclassical conception of common property are addressed, followed by a discussion of common property institutions, and of reciprocity and community.