Between 1872 and 1920 rights to hardrock mineral stocks and petroleum reservoirs on public lands in the western United States were assigned using essentially the same system. In 1920, however, Congress enacted a leasing system for petroleum, leaving the 1872 Mining Law intact for hardrock...

Like many professional sports leagues worldwide, the National Basketball Association is organized as a cooperative of team owners. We argue that league ownership structures must balance two types of transaction costs: the costs of contracting with stakeholders of the league, importantly players,...

Bonding is a market-based enforcement mechanism that relies on financial incentives and reputation effects to deliver compliance with regulations at the lowest possible cost. For example, bonding is used to ensure court appearances, completion of construction projects, and the payment of taxes....

Under the 1872 Mining Law, claimants can to acquire outright title to federal lands. Yet miners have not widely used this land-disposal feature, known as the mineral patent provision, since the early part of the century. In this paper I use a property rights framework to examine the relationship...