This chapter examines the economics of property rights and property law. It shows how the economics of property rights can be used to understand fundamental features of property law and related extra-legal institutions. The chapter examines both the rationale for legal doctrine, and the effects...

Conventional tort law does not allow exposure victims to seek compensation until they develop symptoms of illness. Because this may bar recovery if the injurer is judgment proof, some have advocated allowing victims to sue at exposure. However, critics charge that such a tort for risk would...

This paper examines the impact of split commissions on broker effort in MLS sales. The joint effort of brokers to find a buyer for a given listing is maximized when the broker who locates a buyer first receives the entire commission. In contrast, splitting the commission between the listing and...

This paper develops a theoretical model of the problem of maintenance risk in reverse mortgages (RMs) and home equity conversion instruments generally. By maintenance risk, we refer to the incentive homeowners will have to reduce maintenance expenditures as their equity in the house falls during...

This paper examines the role of brokers in economizing on transaction costs in the housing market. By lowering the cost of transactions, brokers create welfare gains compared to a market in which buyers and sellers transact on their own. However, if brokers engage in unproductive, non-price...

According to conventional wisdom, homeowners take better care of their housing than do renters, as a result of the rental externality. We argue that two forms of homeowner externality ootentially create similar incentives for owners to undermaintain their housing. The first is due to the...

We conduct an experimental analysis of the bargaining between a buyer and a seller of the exchange of a single good by means of an intermediary or broker. We examine how an intermediary affects the price, the likelihood of a successful negotiation, and the time it takes to complete a...

The length of the real estate listing contract is examined as a means of providing an incentive for brokers to act in the best interest of home sellers. A limitation on the duration of the contract accomplishes this objective by imposing a cost (namely, the foregone commission) on brokers who...

Redemption laws give mortgagors the right to redeem their property following default for a statutorily set period of time. This article develops a theory that explains these laws as a means of protecting landowners against the loss of nontransferable values associated with their land. A longer...