Endogenously excludable goods

In this paper we analyze the optimal interplay between the publie and private enforceement of property rights. In doing so we endogenize the distinction between public and club goods on the one and private and common-pool goods on the other hand. The private enforcement of property rights is seen as a substitute for public enforcement that results in a contest between the private defender of its property and the potential appropriator. Public enforcement changes the opportunity costs in this contest. We characterize how optimality conditions for the provision of private and public goods change, how an optimal enforcement policy looks like, and compare the solutions with other institutional alternatives.