Takings of Land by Self-Interested Governments Economic Analysis of Eminent Domain Law

Takings of Land by Self-Interested Governments Economic Analysis of Eminent Domain Law PDF Author: Hans-Bernd Schäfer
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 39

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Book Description
In this paper, we have modeled and examined effects of two salient features of the eminent domain law and its use. First, in most legal orders the compensation for taking of land property is less than full compensation according to the 'differential method' used under civil liability. Second, the government is not a perfect agent of the society. While making the takings decisions it has interests of its own which are not always the same as the social interests. Once these two features are factored in, several of the claims in the existing literature on eminent domain do not hold. Our findings question the 'fiscal illusion' based theory of the government's behavior. We have shown that when the government is self-seeking, full compensation ensures neither that the takings will be efficient nor that the project choice will be in the social interest. On top of that there will be excessive investments by property owners. This outcome cannot be improved even if the full compensation is supplemented with a legal provision of an action for restitution. However, the outcome is better if under-compensation is combined with the provision of restitution against unlawful takings. This combination delivers an outcome which is better than the outcome under full compensation on the following three counts: One, investment levels are more efficient; two, a taking happens only if it contributes to the social welfare; three, the project choice by the government is also better.Further, we have shown that fixed-compensation schemes including no-compensation, do not ensure efficient outcome even if the government is assumed to be benevolent. However, under-compensation can still deliver outcome more effcient than the full compensation.Finally, we have shown that if the taking is for a private investor, the full compensation to the affected parties can be a reasonable approach for efficient use of eminent domain.

Takings of Land by Self-Interested Governments Economic Analysis of Eminent Domain Law

Takings of Land by Self-Interested Governments Economic Analysis of Eminent Domain Law PDF Author: Hans-Bernd Schäfer
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 39

Get Book Here

Book Description
In this paper, we have modeled and examined effects of two salient features of the eminent domain law and its use. First, in most legal orders the compensation for taking of land property is less than full compensation according to the 'differential method' used under civil liability. Second, the government is not a perfect agent of the society. While making the takings decisions it has interests of its own which are not always the same as the social interests. Once these two features are factored in, several of the claims in the existing literature on eminent domain do not hold. Our findings question the 'fiscal illusion' based theory of the government's behavior. We have shown that when the government is self-seeking, full compensation ensures neither that the takings will be efficient nor that the project choice will be in the social interest. On top of that there will be excessive investments by property owners. This outcome cannot be improved even if the full compensation is supplemented with a legal provision of an action for restitution. However, the outcome is better if under-compensation is combined with the provision of restitution against unlawful takings. This combination delivers an outcome which is better than the outcome under full compensation on the following three counts: One, investment levels are more efficient; two, a taking happens only if it contributes to the social welfare; three, the project choice by the government is also better.Further, we have shown that fixed-compensation schemes including no-compensation, do not ensure efficient outcome even if the government is assumed to be benevolent. However, under-compensation can still deliver outcome more effcient than the full compensation.Finally, we have shown that if the taking is for a private investor, the full compensation to the affected parties can be a reasonable approach for efficient use of eminent domain.

The Economics of Eminent Domain

The Economics of Eminent Domain PDF Author: Thomas J. Miceli
Publisher: Now Publishers Inc
ISBN: 1601980426
Category : Eminent domain
Languages : en
Pages : 67

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Book Description
The Economics of Eminent Domain: Private Property, Public Use, and Just Compensation presents an overview of the economics of eminent domain. Beginning with a brief review of the relevant case law for both physical acquisitions and for regulatory takings, the authors survey the economics literature examining eminent domain.

Taking Property and Just Compensation

Taking Property and Just Compensation PDF Author: Nicholas Mercuro
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 9401129584
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 240

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Book Description
While much has been gained from the traditional legal scholars' doctrinal mode of analysis of the takings issue, this volume is presented in the belief that contributions from scholars from the various schools of thought that comprise Law and Economics can complement the traditional doctrinal approach to law. As the discipline of Law and Economics continues to advance, it remains heterodox; there are several vantage points from which to describe and analyze the interrealtionships between law and economics. It is hoped that the analyses from the several vantage points provided here will complement the prodigous body of existing doctrinal, legal analysis of the takings issue and deepen the understanding of the jurisprudential questions and economic issues surrounding the takings issue. To this end, each contributor to this volume was selected as `representative' of one of the schools of thought comprising Law and Economics. In addition, each contributor was provided with a collection of recent United States Supreme Court cases (those summarized in Chapter 1 of this book) along with President Regan's Executive Order: The sole charge to each contributor was to conduct a legal-economic analysis of the cases and the President's Executive Order from the vantage point of their respective school of thought.

Takings

Takings PDF Author: Richard A. Epstein
Publisher: Harvard University Press
ISBN: 0674036557
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 377

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Book Description
If legal scholar Richard Epstein is right, then the New Deal is wrong, if not unconstitutional. Epstein reaches this sweeping conclusion after making a detailed analysis of the eminent domain, or takings, clause of the Constitution, which states that private property shall not be taken for public use without just compensation. In contrast to the other guarantees in the Bill of Rights, the eminent domain clause has been interpreted narrowly. It has been invoked to force the government to compensate a citizen when his land is taken to build a post office, but not when its value is diminished by a comprehensive zoning ordinance. Epstein argues that this narrow interpretation is inconsistent with the language of the takings clause and the political theory that animates it. He develops a coherent normative theory that permits us to distinguish between permissible takings for public use and impermissible ones. He then examines a wide range of government regulations and taxes under a single comprehensive theory. He asks four questions: What constitutes a taking of private property? When is that taking justified without compensation under the police power? When is a taking for public use? And when is a taking compensated, in cash or in kind? Zoning, rent control, progressive and special taxes, workers’ compensation, and bankruptcy are only a few of the programs analyzed within this framework. Epstein’s theory casts doubt upon the established view today that the redistribution of wealth is a proper function of government. Throughout the book he uses recent developments in law and economics and the theory of collective choice to find in the eminent domain clause a theory of political obligation that he claims is superior to any of its modern rivals.

The Economic Theory of Eminent Domain

The Economic Theory of Eminent Domain PDF Author: Thomas J. Miceli
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1139501305
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 215

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Book Description
Surveys the contributions that economic theory has made to the often contentious debate over the government's use of its power of eminent domain, as prescribed by the Fifth Amendment. It addresses such questions as: when should the government be allowed to take private property without the owner's consent? Does it depend on how the land will be used? Also, what amount of compensation is the landowner entitled to receive (if any)? The recent case of Kelo v. New London (2005) revitalized the debate, but it was only the latest skirmish in the ongoing struggle between advocates of strong governmental powers to acquire private property in the public interest and private property rights advocates. Written for a general audience, the book advances a coherent theory that views eminent domain within the context of the government's proper role in an economic system whose primary objective is to achieve efficient land use.

Eminent Domain and Economic Growth

Eminent Domain and Economic Growth PDF Author: Joaquin Jay Gonzalez III,
Publisher: McFarland
ISBN: 1476632413
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 310

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Book Description
Eminent domain is integral to a government's legal ability to take private property for a public purpose. If used correctly, the owners are paid the fair market value for their property, few citizens are inconvenienced and everyone benefits. Bad-faith abuses of eminent domain typically make the front pages of news outlets, and receive news coverage from television stations, in cities throughout our nation. To educate citizens and prevent future abuse, this book exposes both the good and the bad aspects of government's ability to use their power of eminent domain to acquire private property.

Property Rights and Eminent Domain

Property Rights and Eminent Domain PDF Author: Ellen Frankel Paul
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1351496271
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 285

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Book Description
In a country built on the institution of private property, property-owner rights have been under attack. By arguing that private property is a fundamental liberty whose protection deserves the highest priority, Ellen Frankel Paul challenges one of the dominant trends of the past half century: the erosion of property rights via zoning and land use restrictions, carried on by government exercising its "police power" or promoting "the public interest." Paul begins by examining the arguments of environmentalists in support of land-use legislation, and explores a few particularly troubling examples of the exercise of eminent domain and police powers. She traces the philosophical arguments for the two powers as well as their tortuous judicial history, the meaning of property rights and investigates how previous thinkers have defended these rights is detailed, and Paul suggests a more adequate defense for them. In the concluding portion of the book, the very legitimacy of eminent domain is questioned and the author offers recommendations for its reform. This analysis is wide in scope and makes creative use of historical, legal, economic, and philosophic methodologies. It not only gives an account of the present power regulations on land, but also provides an exhaustive history of the development of the law in these two areas and of the philosophical ideas of the thinkers who helped shape this process. This book is distinctive because it places a theory of the just acquisition of property at the heart of the answer to the question of the extent to which governments can rightfully exercise the powers of eminent domain and police. "Amazingly, in a country built on the institution of private property, the right to property in land has been under increasing assault, and has seldom been defended. Paul's book--by arguing that private property is a fundamental liberty whose protection deserves the highest priority--is a major step toward filling the void."--Robert Hessen, Stanford University

Property

Property PDF Author: David Dana
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781587780783
Category : Eminent domain
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
This law school study aid contains the history and cases related to the Takings Clause of the United States Constitution. The authors bring their long-time teaching experience to this important area.

Eminent Domain

Eminent Domain PDF Author: Nadia E. Nedzel
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 33

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Book Description
This article offers a legal and economic analysis and critique of eminent domain doctrine. Section I gives an overview of the historical development of the concept. Section II continues on to discuss major cases and problems with jurisprudential trends in the Supreme Court's interpretation of the Takings Clause. Section III provides an economic analysis of eminent domain from a libertarian perspective. In Section IV, the article concludes that granting a limited government the power of eminent domain is unnecessary, ill-conceived, and should be eliminated.

Taking of Property

Taking of Property PDF Author: United Nations Conference on Trade and Development
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 94

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Book Description
Examination of the concept of "takings" in the context of international law and international investment agreements. It is an analysis of the law relating to the takings of foreign property by host countries and of the clauses International Investment Agreements' seeking to provide protection against such takings. It deals with the development of the law and considers both what possible protection against governmental interference can be given by international instruments and under what conditions and in which manner a State retains, under international law, the freedom to take action that may affect foreign property in the interests of its economic development.