"A Man’s House is His Castle": An Economic and Comparative Approach to Compensation and Gain Sharing in Public and Private Takings

Abstract

The article is made available in the archive with permission from the publisher, Ancilla Iuris.

Takings compensation in North America and Europe has generally been related to “market value” in its various conceptions. The U.S., however, has experienced a wave of compensation increases on the state level lately, in particular when homes are taken (“subjective value”) and for takings motivated by ”economic development”. On the European continent, influential jurisdictions like France and Germany are still reserved from granting any additional compensation in situations like these, but in Scandinavia Sweden stands out as a notable exception. And on the British Isles they have begun reintroducing bonuses for subjective value in recognition of the fact that the owner is being forced to sell. This article gives an account of the international trends in takings compensation and compares the trends to insights from experimental economics in its explorations of the ultimatum game and the endowment effect.