Property Rules, Liability Rules, and Inalienability: One View of the Cathedral

ONLY rarely are Property and Torts approached from a unified perspective. Recent writings by lawyers concerned with economics and by economists concerned with law suggest, however, that an attempt at integrating the various legal relationships treated by these subjects would be useful both for the beginning student and the sophisticated scholar. ¹ By articulating a concept of “entitlements” which are protected by property, liability, or inalienability rules, we present one framework for such an approach. ² We then analyze aspects of the pollution problem and of criminal sanctions in order to demonstrate how the model enables us to perceive relationships which have been ignored by writers in those fields.