or
Sign in to turn on 1-Click ordering.
Express Checkout with PayPhrase
What's this? | Create PayPhrase
More Buying Choices
39 used & new from $8.74
Have one to sell? Sell yours here
or
Get a $3.00 Amazon.com Gift Card
The Not So Wild, Wild West: Property Rights on the Frontier (Stanford Economics and Finance)
 
See larger image 
See all product images
See 1 customer image
Share your own customer images
Publisher: learn how customers can search inside this book.
Tell the Publisher!
I’d like to read this book on Kindle

Don’t have a Kindle? Get your Kindle here, or download a FREE Kindle Reading App.

The Not So Wild, Wild West: Property Rights on the Frontier (Stanford Economics and Finance) [Hardcover]

Terry L. Anderson (Author), Peter J. Hill (Author)
4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
List Price: $28.95
Price: $19.11 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. Details
You Save: $9.84 (34%)
o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o
In Stock.
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com. Gift-wrap available.
Want it delivered Tuesday, September 7? Choose One-Day Shipping at checkout. Details
16 new from $15.11 23 used from $8.74

Frequently Bought Together

Customers buy this book with The Invisible Hook: The Hidden Economics of Pirates by Peter T. Leeson Hardcover $16.47

The Not So Wild, Wild West: Property Rights on the Frontier (Stanford Economics and Finance) + The Invisible Hook: The Hidden Economics of Pirates
Price For Both: $35.58

Show availability and shipping details

  • This item: The Not So Wild, Wild West: Property Rights on the Frontier (Stanford Economics and Finance) by Terry L. Anderson Hardcover

    In Stock.
    Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.
    Eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. Details

  • The Invisible Hook: The Hidden Economics of Pirates by Peter T. Leeson Hardcover

    In Stock.
    Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.
    Eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. Details

Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought

The Invisible Hook: The Hidden Economics of Pirates

The Invisible Hook: The Hidden Economics of Pirates

by Peter T. Leeson
4.1 out of 5 stars (22)  $16.47
Greener Than Thou (Hoover Institution Press Publication)

Greener Than Thou (Hoover Institution Press Publication)

by Terry L. Anderson
$15.00
Markets and States in Tropical Africa: The Political Basis of Agricultural Policies (California Series on Social Choice and Political Economy)

Markets and States in Tropical Africa: The Political Basis of Agricultural Policies (California Series on Social Choice and Political Economy)

by Robert H. Bates
4.5 out of 5 stars (4)  $17.17
Exit, Voice, and Loyalty: Responses to Decline in Firms, Organizations, and States

Exit, Voice, and Loyalty: Responses to Decline in Firms, Organizations, and States

by Albert O. Hirschman
4.4 out of 5 stars (5)  $19.40
Trade-Offs: An Introduction to Economic Reasoning and Social Issues

Trade-Offs: An Introduction to Economic Reasoning and Social Issues

by Harold Winter
4.3 out of 5 stars (7)  $12.35
› Explore similar items

Editorial Reviews

Review

The Not So Wild, Wild West is a beautifully written and printed volume....an outstanding book. -- Regulation, Summer 2005

Product Description

Mention of the American West usually evokes images of rough and tumble cowboys, ranchers, and outlaws. In contrast, "The Not So Wild, Wild West" casts America’s frontier history in a new framework that emphasizes the creation of institutions, both formal and informal, that facilitated cooperation rather than conflict. Rather than describing the frontier as a place where heroes met villains, this book argues that everyday people helped carve out legal institutions that tamed the West.

The authors emphasize that ownership of resources evolves as those resources become more valuable or as establishing property rights becomes less costly. Rules evolving at the local level will be more effective because local people have a greater stake in the outcome. This theory is brought to life in the colorful history of Indians, fur trappers, buffalo hunters, cattle drovers, homesteaders, and miners. The book concludes with a chapter that takes lessons from the American frontier and applies them to our modern "frontiers"—the environment, developing countries, and space exploration.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

  • Hardcover: 280 pages
  • Publisher: Stanford Economics and Finance; 1 edition (May 4, 2004)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0804748543
  • ISBN-13: 978-0804748544
  • Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.3 x 1.1 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #515,316 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

    •  Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?

More About the Author

Terry Lee Anderson
Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

› Visit Amazon's Terry Lee Anderson Page

What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?

The Not So Wild, Wild West: Property Rights on the Frontier (Stanford Economics and Finance)
92% buy the item featured on this page:
The Not So Wild, Wild West: Property Rights on the Frontier (Stanford Economics and Finance) by Terry L. Anderson Hardcover 4.6 out of 5 stars (5)
$19.11
The Invisible Hook: The Hidden Economics of Pirates
5% buy
The Invisible Hook: The Hidden Economics of Pirates by Peter T. Leeson Hardcover 4.1 out of 5 stars (22)
$16.47
Governing the Commons: The Evolution of Institutions for Collective Action (Political Economy of Institutions and Decisions)
3% buy
Governing the Commons: The Evolution of Institutions for Collective Action (Political Economy of Institutions and Decisions) by Elinor Ostrom Paperback 4.0 out of 5 stars (9)
$20.65
› Explore similar items

Tags Customers Associate with This Product

 (What's this?)
Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
 
(1)
(1)
(1)
(1)
(1)
(1)
(1)
(1)
(1)
(1)
Agree with these tags?
See all 14 tags...

Your tags: Add your first tag
 
See most popular tags

Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store

If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store. Learn more
 

Customer Reviews

5 Reviews
5 star:
 (3)
4 star:
 (2)
3 star:    (0)
2 star:    (0)
1 star:    (0)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.6 out of 5 stars (5 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
Share your thoughts with other customers:
Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Law and Order in the Wild, Wild West, November 14, 2005
By F. E. Guerra (San Juan, Puerto Rico) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This review is from: The Not So Wild, Wild West: Property Rights on the Frontier (Stanford Economics and Finance) (Hardcover)
P.J. Hill and Terry Anderson, two very respected American economists, have written a very thoughtful book about the spontaneous emergence of law and order in the "Wild, Wild West" of yesteryear. Their love of the great outdoors and of their native state of Montana shows through and through in this beautiful tome. They delve into a variety of fascinating topics in their book, such as the gold rush, the fur trade, the wagon trail, and the Indian wars. In addition, they provide a wonderful overview of the theory of property rights, and their book contains many helpful maps, well-organized charts, and some beautiful pictures. Anyone who is interested not only in the history of the American West but also in economics generally and property rights specifically should take the time to read this book. I heartily recommend their book to anyone with an interest in these topics.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews  
Was this review helpful to you? Yes No


 
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars A good read even if not for a class., December 8, 2007
By Lola "Miss L" (Seattle, WA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Not So Wild, Wild West: Property Rights on the Frontier (Stanford Economics and Finance) (Hardcover)
This book was a assigned for a political economy class but was interesting and easy to read. I am keeping this book as it explains a lot about human behavior and had examples showing how people have always cooperated to meet their own goals.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews  
Was this review helpful to you? Yes No


 
11 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars The debate over property rights made fun!, December 16, 2006
By Arthur Digbee (Indianapolis, IN, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   
This review is from: The Not So Wild, Wild West: Property Rights on the Frontier (Stanford Economics and Finance) (Hardcover)
This book is written by two scholars who would describe themselves as free market environmentalists. If you don't know what that is, you should probably read this book. In contrast to other tomes on such matters, it engages the topic through inherently fun examples, taken from the "Wild West" in US history.

In the first chapter, Anderson and Hill discuss various systems of property rights on the Wild West: tribal institutions, fur traders, miners in the Sierra Nevada, water rights of prior appropriation, and Cattlemen's associations.

The second chapter provides a general review of the concept of property rights and how they are designed. Anderson and Hill recognize from the start that many people use systems of property rights to benefit themselves at the expense of others. This "rent-seeking" often involves messing with the market, and harms society as a whole. In short, Anderson and Hill recognize (at least in principle) that property rights may not always be efficient in economic terms. They are fair minded, at least in principle, allowing that government, local communities, and/or entrepreneurs might each provide solutions to these problems in both theory and practice.

The next two chapters make this abstract argument concrete by looking at property rights in Indian country. Obviously, most Indian lands were taken by force or by the threat of force, an excellent example of rent-seeking by whites with tragic effects for Natives.

After this, the authors turn to a series of other property rights issues in the West, from fur traders and wagon trains to mining camps and Mormon irrigation. The core claim is that American economic successes reflect the ability of local communities to develop new institutions of property rights to solve the novel problems that they found. In contrast, when rent-seekers establish property rights that benefit them at the expense of others, bad things happen.

Given their own leanings, Anderson and Hill tend to see "good property rights leading to good outcomes" more than they see rent-seekers perverting markets and harming the environment. However, the misuse of both political and economic power is ubiquitous, and should have been acknowledged more in practice. They do recognize the bad treatment of Indians, but apparently don't find much bad behavior by whites against other whites.

The book makes some pretense of presenting an overall theory, but it really has only a framework that allows the authors to tell a bunch of interesting "just-so stories." They also do not given any attention to research design or case selection, nor do they provide a justification for telling these particular stories as opposed to others. They pose the book as providing a revisionist history, against the myth of violence on the Wild West. They're successful in telling an alternative story, but to do that, they left some things out - - most notably the railroads.

Though it's easy to read this book as part of the Right, there are elements of the argument that will provoke both sides of the political spectrum. On the one hand, the book often serves up a Pollyannish view of the glories of markets and private property that will annoy the Left. On the other hand, Anderson and Hill provide a very sympathetic view of Native American institutions, and are highly critical of how Indian land was forcefully taken and then mismanaged by whites - - issues that the Right would like to gloss over.

Those on the Right will probably like this book because of its emphasis on property rights and markets. Still, those on the Left could also read this book as a powerful indictment of corporate welfare, reflected historically in subsidized grazing and continuing to subsidized mining and oil exploration today, all of which has devastated the environment. That should give the Right pause.

In short, both sides of the debate over free markets and environmentalism could learn something from this book. But, people being the way they are, they probably won't.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews  
Was this review helpful to you? Yes No

Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
 
 
 
Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars It's not Right or Left, it's libertarian
Though I don't have definitive proof, I believe this is an expansion of a research piece originally written in the late 1970's and published in The Journal of Libertarian Studies... Read more
Published 2 months ago by Todd Stephens

5.0 out of 5 stars Unbelievable - Buy it!
I don't have a lot of time to really give this review its due. However, I highly recommend this book to anyone trying to deepen their understanding of how property rights have... Read more
Published on June 7, 2007 by D. Schultz

Only search this product's reviews


Customer Discussions

This product's forum
Discussion Replies Latest Post
No discussions yet

Ask questions, Share opinions, Gain insight
Start a new discussion
Topic:
First post:
Prompts for sign-in
 


Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
Search all Amazon discussions
   

So You'd Like to...

Create a guide

Look for Similar Items by Category

Look for Similar Items by Subject

Search Books by subject:

























i.e., each book must be in subject 1 AND subject 2 AND ...
 

Feedback

If you need help or have a question for Customer Service, contact us.
 Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
Is there any other feedback you would like to provide?

Your comments can help make our site better for everyone.


Your Recent History

 (What's this?)

After viewing product detail pages or search results, look here to find an easy way to navigate back to pages you are interested in.