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Property Rights, Costs, and Welfare: Delaware Water Mill Legislation, 1719-1859

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  • Hart, John F

Abstract

Gristmills and other water-powered mills played a central part in American economic development and were a common subject of early legislation. This article studies Delaware's water mill legislation from 1719 to 1859, which has not featured in any of the previous historical literature. These laws fall into three categories. First, Delaware's mill acts were highly redistributive, and their repeal in 1773 seems to stem from a concern with mill crowding rather than from a rejection of using the condemnation power in this context. Second, Delaware's substantive law of water rights, unlike the water law of any jurisdiction previously studied, was largely statutory and was based primarily on the principle of prior rights. Third, when household consumers complained that merchant mills were not serving their needs, the legislature responded by compelling merchant mills to offer services characteristic of the country gristmill, even at great cost. Copyright 1998 by the University of Chicago.

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  • Hart, John F, 1998. "Property Rights, Costs, and Welfare: Delaware Water Mill Legislation, 1719-1859," The Journal of Legal Studies, University of Chicago Press, vol. 27(2), pages 455-471, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:ucp:jlstud:v:27:y:1998:i:2:p:455-71
    DOI: 10.1086/468027
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    Cited by:

    1. Jongwook Kim & Joseph T. Mahoney, 2002. "Resource-based and property rights perspectives on value creation: the case of oil field unitization," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 23(4-5), pages 225-245.
    2. Fleck, Robert K. & Hanssen, F. Andrew, 2024. "Courts, legislatures, and evolving property rules: Lessons from eminent domain," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 93(C).
    3. Fleck, Robert K. & Hanssen, F. Andrew, 2010. "Repeated adjustment of delegated powers and the history of eminent domain," International Review of Law and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 30(2), pages 99-112, June.
    4. Mark Kanazawa, 2003. "Origins of Common-Law Restrictions on Water Transfers: Groundwater Law in Nineteenth-Century California," The Journal of Legal Studies, University of Chicago Press, vol. 32(1), pages 153-180, January.

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