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PROPERTY RIGHTS AND THE GENERAL THEORY OF EXCHANGE: FREQUENTLY NEGLECTED IMPLICATIONS OF THE DIVISION OF LABOUR AND THE LAW OF COMPARATIVE ADVANTAGE
Author(s) -
Ayau Manuel F.
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
economic affairs
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.24
H-Index - 18
eISSN - 1468-0270
pISSN - 0265-0665
DOI - 10.1111/j.1468-0270.2006.00612.x
Subject(s) - division of labour , division (mathematics) , property (philosophy) , economics , property rights , labour law , distribution (mathematics) , law and economics , law , comparative advantage , labour economics , market economy , neoclassical economics , political science , microeconomics , mathematics , mathematical analysis , philosophy , arithmetic , epistemology
The importance of the division of labour and the law of comparative advantage to the operation of modern economies are well known, but many of the implications of these phenomena are less widely appreciated. This article examines the implications of the division of labour and the law of comparative advantage for the ownership and exercise of property rights and the creation and distribution of wealth. It is argued that a fuller appreciation of these phenomena leads to the conclusion that restraints on trade and redistributory measures infringe private property rights and reduce wealth.