The careful distinction between property and sovereignty is a central part of legal thought from the early modern period onwards. But the reality shows that this division is socioeconomically not that clear. Property rights are rights against persons in relation to things, but effectively they...

Bitcoin is an electronic payment system which allows for value to be transferred from one person to another using electronic coins known as bitcoins. Title to bitcoins is recorded using a distributed electronic database known as the blockchain. This paper considers the status of bitcoin as a...

This Article offers a theory of secured credit that aims to answer fundamental questions that have long percolated in the bankruptcy and secured transactions literatures. Are security interests property rights, contract rights, or something else? Why do secured creditors enjoy a priority right...

Real estate ownership is conventionally viewed as a clear matter of public record. Yet purchasers of real estate are increasingly employing legal techniques to preserve their anonymity by registering their properties through trustees or opaque shell companies. This turn of events calls for...

The Study on Directors’ Duties and Sustainable Corporate Governance (hereinafter ‘The Study’) was published on 30 July 2020 and is accompanied by a Commission Inception Impact Assessment and a consultation deadline of 8 October 2020. This is an add-on to the response given by a group of...

In the past decade, the legal and economic literature on blockchain technology and its applications has flourished. This new technology holds great promise for enhancing the efficiency of contracting. Building on the classic Coase theorem, blockchain as a decentralised mechanism of...

This paper contrasts the determinants of entrepreneurial entry and high-growth aspiration entrepreneurship. Using the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) surveys for 42 countries over the period 1998-2005, we analyse how institutional environment and entrepreneurial characteristics affect...

Social and cultural determinants of economic institutions and outcomes have come to the forefront of economic research. We introduce religiosity, measured as the share for which religion is important in daily life, to explain institutional quality in the form of property rights and the rule of...

The Coase theorem posits: If [1] property rights are perfect, [2] contracts are enforceable, [3] preferences are common knowledge, and [4] transaction costs are zero, then the initial alloca-tion of property rights only matters for distribution, not for efficiency. In this paper we claim that...

Globally, real estate trade is highly regularized. Usually, the market value is not negotiated simply between the seller and potential buyer but based on an assessment performed by a professional valuer, known as a surveyor or appraiser. This paper inquires about the economic role of valuers in...