Lawyers and social scientists often describe property as a “bundle of rights.” What are the connotations of “bundle”? What features of property does the “bundle” talk obscure or even deny? What are its political consequences? 

In the past 15 years, the “bundle of rights” view has been provocatively challenged, notably by James E. Penner,Thomas W. Merrill, and Henry E. Smith. This symposium brings the challenge to the fore, as these leading critics elaborate the core points of contention. They are joined by three younger critics of the “bundle” view, each with a fresh perspective. 

Two eminent legal scholars, Richard A. Epstein andStephen R. Munzer, take up the challenge. Each mounts his own defense of “bundle of rights” theory. Another renowned property scholar, Robert C. Ellickson, weighs in and stakes out a middle ground. 

Papers:

Prologue:
Property: A Bundle of Rights?, by the symposium organizers. This short document prompted the authors. It concludes with discussion questions. 

Eric R. Claeys:
Bundle-of-Sticks Notions in Legal and Economic Scholarship 

Robert C. Ellickson:
Two Cheers for the Bundle-of-Sticks Metaphor, Three Cheers for Merrill and Smith 

Richard A. Epstein:
Bundle-of-Rights Theory as a Bulwark Against Statist Conceptions of Private Property 

Larissa Katz:
The Regulative Function of Property Rights 

Thomas W. Merrill:
The Property Prism 

Adam Mossoff:
The False Promise of the Right to Exclude 

Stephen R. Munzer:
A Bundle Theorist Holds On to His Collection of Sticks 

James E. Penner:
Potentiality, Actuality, and “Stick”-Theory 

Henry E. Smith:
Property Is Not Just a Bundle of Rights