Bundles, Duties, and Rights: A Revised Framework for Analysis of Natural Resource Property Rights Regimes

Abstract

In their 1992 paper, Schlager and Ostrom presented a property rights framework characterized by nested, cumulative attributes. It has become arguably the most ubiquitous framework for analysis of natural resources and property rights. We revisit their contribution and discuss how the framework could evolve to address increasingly complex situations, with particular attention to institutional change. We devote increased attention to duties and liabilities associated with right allocation, tying the framework to a broader property rights literature. We conclude with an application to reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD+), illustrating how revisions to the framework facilitate contemporary institutional analysis. (JEL K11, Q15)