Authors
Sheldon Bernard Lyke
Description
This chapter explores the parameters of using anticommons property arrangements (ie, gridlock) as a tool for protecting the commons. Michael Heller has written about the anticommons, which is a kind of property arrangement where multiple parties can exclude others from using a property. The anticommons can produce gridlock and lead to inefficiencies in land use. Abraham Bell and Gideon Parchomosky observed that the anticommons and its accompanying gridlock could function to preserve common pool resources. Bell and Parchomovsky argued that a strategy that incorporates the anticommons and gives nearby landowners formal veto rights over land development (ie, negative easements) could safeguard a commons (eg, public parks). In summary, they argue that gridlock–the introduction of multiple negative easement holders into the commons–will introduce inefficiencies in the development of commons …