Dynamic Transaction Costs and Option Values in Institutional Change

Ray Challen introduces and develops a model for the analysis of the problems involved in institutional choice that takes into account constraints in institutional change imposed by history and the value of maintaining options in an uncertain future. The emphasis of institutional analysis shifts from assessing the benefits of particular property rights regimes in isolation to considering the distribution of property rights between levels of governments, communities and individuals in an institutional hierarchy. Conceptual developments in institutional theory are illustrated by using a case study of institutional change in the regulation of water use in irrigated agriculture.