Losers
Recovering Lost Property in Japan and the United States
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 7906980 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Mark D West (corresponding author) |
| Year | 2003 |
| Volume | 37 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 369-424 |
| Publication date | 2003-06-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Law & Society Review (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0023-9216 • E-ISSN: 1540-5893 |
| Publisher | Cambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1111/1540-5893.3702007 |
| OpenAlex | W3123324953 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 8 |
| References cited | 44 |
This article examines the lost property regime of Japan, which has one of the most impressive reputations in the world for returning lost property to its rightful owner, and compares it with that of the United States. Folk legend attributes Japanese lost-and-found success to honesty and other-regarding preferences. In this article, I focus on another possible explanation: legal institutions that efficiently and predictably allocate and enforce possessory rights. These recognized, centuries-old rules mesh with norms, institutional structures, and economic incentives to reinforce mutually the message that each sends and yields more lost-property recovery than altruism alone
Altruism (biology · Common property · Economics · Honesty · Incentive · Law and economics · Legend · Market economy · Political science · Property (philosophy · Property rights · Culture, Economy, and Development Studies · Evolutionary Game Theory and Cooperation · Experimental Behavioral Economics Studies · History · Law · Philosophy · Psychology · Social Psychology
Validation is a Galilean enterprise
The Evolution of Generosity
A Model of Social Duties
Civic honesty around the globe
Are Finders Keepers? Friendship and Enmity in the Rabbinic Law of Finders
Why is Helping Behavior Declining in the United States But Not in Canada
Institutional Incentives and Trust
The Sociology of Property Rights
Police and Community in Japan
Japanese Patterns of Behavior
Beyond Self-Presentation
Authority without Power
Ta Tsing Leu Lee; Being the Fundamental Laws, and a Selection from the Supplementary Statutes, of the Penal Code of China
Communities and Markets in Economic Development
The lost dollar
Economic Action and Social Structure
Order by Accident
The Japanese Way of Justice
The Individual in a Social World
The Lost-Letter Technique
Individual and collective processes in the construction of the self
The Origin, Development, and Regulation of Norms
Japanese Patterns of Behavior
Everyday Justice
Japanese Culture in Comparative Perspective
| Unique citing works | 8 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,36 |
| Citation span | 2004 - 2025 (22) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 6 |