A Social Science Basis for Prescription of Land Tenure for Alaska Natives

Abstract

"This study addresses two problems: the conflict over how to own property, and undesired damage to the environment. Environmental outcomes are related to property ownership, and cultural responses to property allocation. The conflict over ownership is often expressed in terms of competing ideologies of capitalism and communism, and sometimes oversimplified to a choice between communal equities and individual rights, which are claimed to increase economic welfare. Damage to the environment has been attributed to unaccounted-for externalized costs, which lead to mistaken social choices, such as undesired levels of pollution or excessive resource use. A common recommendation is to internalise costs and improve welfare by using a better arrangement of property rights for the relevant resources and times. This proposition underlies the controversy over whether resources should be owned by individuals, an intermediate grouping, or all of society."