We examine the efficiency, distributional, and environmental consequences of assigning spatial property rights to part of a spatially-connected natural resource while the remainder is competed for by an open access fringe. We refer to this as partial enclosure of the commons. We obtain sharp...

We examine the efficiency, distributional, and environmental consequences of assigning spatial property rights to part of a spatially-connected natural resource while the remainder is competed for by an open access fringe. We refer to this as partial enclosure of the commons. We obtain sharp...

Increasing levels of fisheries collapse are now widely believed to be the consequence of ineffective centralized management of the common pool. In theory, realigning incentives for ecologically sustainable and economically prosperous fisheries requires assigning property rights to the resource,...