American Law and Economics Review Advance Access published online on September 18, 2009
American Law and Economics Review, doi:10.1093/aler/ahp012
Property Rights and Contract Form in Medieval Europe
Emory Law School
Send correspondence to: Alexander Volokh, Assistant Professor, Emory Law School, 1301 Clifton Rd., Atlanta, GA 30322, USA; E-mail: avolokh{at}emory.edu
JEL Classification: D23, D86, K11, L24, N43, N53, O13, Q15
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Abstract |
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Throughout western Europe, beginning about 1200, leasing of lords' estates became more common relative to direct management. In England, however, direct management increased beginning around the same time and until the fourteenth century, and leasing increased thereafter. This article models contract choice as a trade-off between incentives and insurance. Leasing increases as living standards improve. In England, the increase in direct management can be explained by improved security of freehold tenure, and the increase in leasing can be explained not only by living standards but also by improved security of leasehold tenure.
I am grateful to Nigel Ashford, John S. Beckerman, Ryan Bubb, Bruce M. S. Campbell, Gregory Clark, Charles Donahue, Dara Glasser, Keith N. Hylton, Louis Kaplow, Mark G. Kelman, Daniel M. Klerman, Katherine V. Litvak, Michael McCormick, Edward R. Morrison, Robert Palmer, Nicholas Poynder, Alan Schwartz, Jesse M. Shapiro, Henry E. Smith, Kathryn Spier, Vladimir Volokh, and Mungo Wilson. Audiences at the following seminars, workshops, and conferences also provided helpful comments: the American Law & Economic Association; the Harvard Economics Department's Economic History Tea; Harvard Law School's Law and Economics Workshop; the Institute for Humane Studies' Summer Graduate Research Fellowship meetings; the Stanford/Yale Junior Faculty Forum; and Property Law and Transactions in an Age of Globalization (Center on Property, Citizenship, and Social Entrepreneurism). I am grateful to Isaac Rethy for his able research assistance. Research for this Article was partly funded by a Summer writing grant from Georgetown University Law Center, and partly by a Summer graduate research fellowship from the Institute for Humane Studies.