Hello.
This is an interesting question. Why is it necessary or prudent to
have a system of registering or recording ownership of some types of
property (real estate, vehicles, trademarks) but not other types?
The academic field which ponders questions like this is known as "Law
and Economics." A leader in this field is Professor Steven Shavell of
the Harvard Law School.
Professor Shavell has written an article entitled, "Acquisition and
Transfer of Property" [7/26/00] that provides an in-depth discussion
of this top.
The article is available online in PDF format (so you'll need the
Adobe Acrobat reader).
http://econ.bu.edu/Weiss/Ec337/Shavell/bg9-1e.pdf
In particular, in Section 4, entitled "Registration Systems and Sale
and Theft of Property" explains this subject quite well.
According to Professor Shavell, a registration system involves "a list
is maintained of items of property, each uniquely identified and
associated with the name of its owner." Shavell also notes, "For a
registration system to function, certain expenses must be incurred and
requirements met. First, the registration system's records must be
maintained. Second, individuals must communicate with the registry
when they make a transaction. Third, each piece of property must be
uniquely identified."
Shavell points out that land can identified by its geographical
borders, while vehicles can identified by a registration number as
well as a decription (model and make)." Animals can be identified by
brand and/or physical description.
Shavell identifies promotion of sale and deterrence of theft as the
chief advantages of registration systems. In Section 4.3, Shavell
states, "An advantage of registration systems is that they may ease
sale and resale of things by assuring buyers of registered property of
the validity of sellers' claims of ownership. In the absence of a
registration system, a buyer might be sufficiently wary of the
validity of title of goods as not to transact."
Moreoever Shavell asserts that "thieves face a higher risk of
conviction if they steal registered property, for if discovered with
such property, they cannot claim that they own it. If a thief is
discovered in possession of an automobile that is registered in
someone else's name, he cannot claim that it is his, whereas one found
to have unregistered property, like an unmarked gold bar, might
successfully assert lawful ownership." Shavell also points out that
thieves may difficulty selling stolen property because potential
buyers could consult the registry to determine if the seller is the
legitimate owner.
In Section 4.4, Shavell points out several additional advantages of
registration systems. A registration system facilitates the process of
using the property as loan collateral because potential lenders are
able to verify that the borrower actually owns the property. Also, the
government can use the data from registry to impose property taxes.
Additionally, in the case of vehicles, the government can use the data
for public safety purposes. Shavell explains this point in more depth
midway through Sectionn 4.6. Clearly a database of vehicle
registration is extremely useful in identifying automobiles involved
in crimes or accidents and that sort of thing.
Shavell gets to the real heart of your question in Section 4.6.
Shavell points out that there is a much greater need for registries
for property of high value, such as real estate or vehicles. Shavell
states that "many of the benefits of registries are higher the greater
is the value of property. This is true of the fostering of sales
transactions (the higher the value of property, the higher is the
surplus from a transaction likely to be for the buyer and for the
seller), of deterrence of theft (the higher the value of property, the
more parties will spend protecting it and trying to take it, so the
greater the benefits from deterrence of theft), of the ability to
borrow against and insure property, and of the ability of the state to
raise tax revenues."
Shavell also recognizes that there are costs associated with
maintaining a registry. Chiefly, these are bookkeeping expenses that
are not really dependent on the underlying value of the property
(i.e., it costs just as much to maintain a set of records about
low-value property as it does to keep records about high value
property. Thus, the higher the value of the underlying property, the
more the benefits of a registry tend to outweigh the costs.
Shavell suggests that registries are particularly good for high-value
abstract property like patents and trademarks because these things
can't be physically possessed.
On the other hand, as you point out, we don't use registries for
things like computers and jewelry. Why not? According to Shavell, this
is partly because those things are of lower value. Shavell states that
"goods like radios and televisions, although of some durability, are
not as likely to be resold as are the more valuable durable goods
discussed above, reducing the transaction-related benefit of
registries." Additionally, Shavell points out that items used and kept
at home are much less likely to be stolen. Going to your jewelry
example, Shavell suggests that items such as diamonds, while of high
value, are hard to uniquely identify and would be marred by imprinting
a serial number on them.
In Section 4.7, Shavell concludes that the actual use of registries is
consistent with his analysis.
You might also take a look at another article "The Economics of Legal
Disputes over the Ownership of Works of Art," in which Law & Economics
experts Richard Posner and William Landes discuss the need to have a
registration system for valuable works of art. The article includes
many of the same property ownership principles as Shavell.
http://www.law.uchicago.edu/Publications/Working/WkngPprs%2026-50/40.posner.pdf
Some other "Law & Economics" papers that you might find useful:
http://www.law.uchicago.edu/Publications/
If you want more about the history of real estate recording, this
article called "Understanding the Evolution of Land Administration
Systems in Some Common Law Countries" (multiple authors) have a good
summary of the origins of property title registration in England in
the Middle Ages:
http://www.sli.unimelb.edu.au/research/publications/IPW/EvolnLandAdmin_SurvReview_.pdf
search terms: ownership property rights registration title
I hope this helps. Good luck in your research. |
