The evolution of private property

Abstract

Experimental studies have shown that subjects exhibit a systematic en-dowment effect. No acceptable explanation for the existence of this behavior has been offered. This paper shows that the endowment effect can be mod-eled as respect for private property in the absence of legal institutions ensuring third-party contract enforcement. In this sense, " natural " private property has been observed in many species, in the form of recognition of territorial in-cumbency. We develop a model loosely based on the Hawk-Dove-Bourgeois game (Maynard Smith & Parker 1976) and the War of Attrition (Maynard Smith & Price 1973) to explain the natural evolution of private property.gintis, 1-413-586-7756 (phone), 1-775-402-4921 (fax). I would like to thank