Neither market nor government: Comparing the performance of user rights regimes

This paper takes a different perspective on the market versus government debate. This debate is often too general, too political and not fruitful. Starting from the assumption that many actors make decisions about changes in land use and that those decisions have to be coordinated in some ways, three models of coordination (market, hierarchy and network) are identified. These models, which in practice are often mixed, represent different ways of coordinating decisions about changing the content of user rights and/or changing the ownership of user rights in order to change land use. Which model is 'best' cannot be determined in general, but has to be evaluated by comparing the performance of user rights regimes.