Gary D. Libecap's Books

Owens Valley Revisited

A Reassessment of the West's First Great Water Transfer

By: Gary D. Libecap

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Owens Valley Revisited

A Reassessment of the West's First Great Water Transfer

By: Gary D. Libecap

In the contemporary West, pressures to more effectively reallocate water to meet growing urban and environmental demands are increasing as environmental awareness grows and climate change threatens existing water supplies. The legacy of Owens Valley raises concerns about how reallocation can occur. Although it took place over seventy years ago, the water transfer from Owens Valley to Los Angeles still plays an important role in perceptions of how water markets work. The memory of Owens Valley transfer is one of theft and environmental destruction at the hands of Los Angeles. In reassessing the infamous transfer, one could say that there was no "theft." Owens Valley landowners fared well in their land and water sales, earning more than if they had stayed in agriculture. In another sense, however, "theft" did occur. The water was not literally stolen, but there was a sharp imbalance in gains from the trade--with most of the benefits going to Los Angeles. Owens Valley, then, demonstrates the importance of distributional issues in water trades when the stakes are large. Los Angeles water rights in the Owens Valley and Mono Basin have again been a front-page issue since 1970. New environmental and recreational values and air pollution concerns have ushered in demands to curtail the shipment of water from source regions for urban use. Owen's Valley Revisited: A Reassesment of the West's First Great Water Transfer carefully explores how these sagas were addressed, considering the costs involved, and alternative approaches that might have resulted in more rapid and less contentious remedies. This analysis offers insights to guide the ongoing conversation about water politics and the future thereof. .

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Page Count

226

Publisher

Stanford University Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0804753806

ISBN 13

9780804753807

Contracting for Property Rights

By: Gary D. Libecap

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Contracting for Property Rights

By: Gary D. Libecap

The histories of rights to minerals, range, timber land, fishery and crude oil production in the U.S. are examined to reveal the problems encountered in negotiations among claimants and the political and economic considerations that influence property rights arrangements.

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Page Count

148

Publisher

Cambridge University Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0521449049

ISBN 13

9780521449045

Titles, Conflict, and Land Use

The Development of Property Rights and Land Reform on the Brazilian Amazon Frontier

By: Lee J. Alston,Gary D. Libecap,Bernardo Mueller

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Titles, Conflict, and Land Use

The Development of Property Rights and Land Reform on the Brazilian Amazon Frontier

By: Lee J. Alston,Gary D. Libecap,Bernardo Mueller

The Amazon, the world's largest rain forest, is the last frontier in Brazil. The settlement of large and small farmers, squatters, miners, and loggers in this frontier during the past thirty years has given rise to violent conflicts over land as well as environmental duress. Titles, Conflict, and Land Use examines the institutional development involved in the process of land use and ownership in the Amazon and shows how this phenomenon affects the behavior of the economic actors. It explores the way in which the absence of well-defined property rights in the Amazon has led to both economic and social problems, including lost investment opportunities, high costs in protecting claims, and violence. The relationship between land reform and violence is given special attention. The book offers an important application of the New Institutional Economics by examining a rare instance where institutional change can be empirically observed. This allows the authors to study property rights as they emerge and evolve and to analyze the effects of Amazon development on the economy. In doing so they illustrate well the point that often the evolution of economic institutions will not lead to efficient outcomes. This book will be important not only to economists but also to Latin Americanists, political scientists, anthropologists, and scholars in disciplines concerned with the environment. Lee Alston is Professor of Economics, University of Illinois, and Research Associate for the National Bureau of Economic Research. Gary Libecap is Professor of Economics and Law, University of Arizona, and Research Associate for the National Bureau of Economic Research. Bernardo Mueller is Assistant Professor, Universidade de Brasilia.

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Page Count

242

Publisher

University of Michigan Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0472024280

ISBN 13

9780472024285

The Federal Civil Service System and the Problem of Bureaucracy

The Economics and Politics of Institutional Change

By: Ronald N. Johnson,Gary D. Libecap

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The Federal Civil Service System and the Problem of Bureaucracy

The Economics and Politics of Institutional Change

By: Ronald N. Johnson,Gary D. Libecap

The call to "reinvent government"—to reform the government bureaucracy of the United States—resonates as loudly from elected officials as from the public. Examining the political and economic forces that have shaped the American civil service system from its beginnings in 1883 through today, the authors of this volume explain why, despite attempts at an overhaul, significant change in the bureaucracy remains a formidable challenge.

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Page Count

242

Publisher

University of Chicago Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0226401774

ISBN 13

9780226401775

Environmental Markets

A Property Rights Approach

By: Terry L. Anderson,Gary D. Libecap

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Environmental Markets

A Property Rights Approach

By: Terry L. Anderson,Gary D. Libecap

Environmental Markets explains the prospects of using markets to improve environmental quality and resource conservation. No other book focuses on a property rights approach using environmental markets to solve environmental problems. This book compares standard approaches to these problems using governmental management, regulation, taxation, and subsidization with a market-based property rights approach. This approach is applied to land, water, wildlife, fisheries, and air and is compared to governmental solutions. The book concludes by discussing tougher environmental problems such as ocean fisheries and the global atmosphere, emphasizing that neither governmental nor market solutions are a panacea.

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