Berge, Erling. 2002. "Reflections on Property Rights and Commons in Economies of Western Europe." Presented at "The Commons in an Age of Globalization" (Opening Address), the ninth biennial conference of the International Association for the Study of Common Property, Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe, June 17-21, 2002.

Abstract

From page 1:

"My basic message is that commons, both as a concept and as a reality, is alive and well also in developed capitalist economies. In fact, without a sophisticated use of the particulars of institutions developed to govern the commons of Western Europe, the ability to govern the development of modern capitalist economies would be seriously hampered. And the urban way of life creates a demand for new types of commons. To me it seems that the more sophisticated capitalism becomes, the more sophisticated do institutions governing various types of commons become."