Anarchy, Uncertainty, and the Emergence of Property Rights

This paper investigates whether Lockean first claimer property rights should be expected to emerge in anarchy. Individuals behind a veil of uncertainty about their future wealth decide independently whether to commit to using fcrce. Neither the contractarian hypothesis that a thicker veil of uncertainty supports more co‐operation nor Demsetz's hypothesis that well‐defined property rights emerge as the value of the externality from not having private property increases is unambiguously implied by the model.