Imachi Nkwu: Trade and the commons

James Fenske

MPRA Paper from University Library of Munich, Germany

Abstract: The conventional view is that an increase in the value of a natural resource will lead private property to emerge. Many Igbo groups in Nigeria, however, curtailed private rights over palm trees in response to the palm produce trade of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. I present a simple game between a property owner and a potential thief in which an increase in the price of a natural resource makes it possible to introduce regulated communal tenure. This makes the property owner better off, leaving the thief as well off as under private property. I use this model along with colonial court records to explain the political economy of property disputes in interwar Igboland.

Keywords: Property rights; trade; commons; Nigeria; Igbo (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: N57 O10 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2012-02
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-afr, nep-env and nep-his
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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https://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/36759/1/MPRA_paper_36759.pdf original version (application/pdf)
https://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/41595/1/MPRA_paper_41595.pdf revised version (application/pdf)
https://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/48810/1/MPRA_paper_48810.pdf revised version (application/pdf)

Related works:
Journal Article: Imachi Nkwu: Trade and the Commons (2014)
Working Paper: Imachi Nkwu: Trade and the commons (2012)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:pra:mprapa:36759

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