制度经济学 考试资料整合版(仅供参考).doc

名词解释（20分）： The property rights The term “property rights” carries two distinct meanings in the economic literature. One, primarily developed by Alchian and Cheung. is essentially the ability to enjoy a piece of property. The other, much more prevalent and much older, is essentially what the state assigns to a person. I designate the first “economic (property) rights” and the second “legal (property) rights.” Economic rights are the end, that is, what people ultimately seek, whereas legal rights are means to achieve the end. Barzel define the economic property rights an individual has over a commodity (or an asset) to be the individuals ability, in expected terms, to consume the good (or the services of the asset) directly or to consume it indirectly through exchange. Legal rights are the rights recognized and enforced, in part, by the state. These rights enhance economic rights, A major function of legal rights is to accommodate third-party adjudication and enforcement. transaction costs as the costs associated with the transfer, capture, and protection of rights Transaction costs are the mirror image of property rights, and their character differ from that of other costs. One does not get rid of them by not transacting, as part of these costs are the foregone gains from exchange. The notion of transaction cost is operational. When transaction costs are positive, rights to assets will not be perfectly delineated The reason is that, relative to their value, some of the assets’ attributes are too costly to measure accurately. public domain Commodities have many attributes which will creates public domain Measuring these levels is too costly to be comprehensive or entirely accurate. How difficult it is to obtain full information in the face of variability fundamentally determines how difficult it is to delineate rights. Because it is costly to measure commodities fully, the potential of wealth capture is present in every exchange. The opportunity for wealth c