9632203 Heim This research project is part of a dissertation in economic history on the creation of property rights in the radio spectrum in the United States between 1897 and 1927. Archival research in government documents collections, the Smithsonian Archives, and archives of private firms will be used to construct a case study of this process. The case study will include an account of the activities of major parties involved in the creation of property rights in the spectrum. This research will also provide data on product markets, technology, resource characteristics, existing institutions, and ideological factors affecting the creation of property rights. This empirical case study then will be used to shed light on theoretical issues at the frontiers of economics involving the creation of property rights institutions. In particular, this case study will allow a focus on the role of the economic and political power of varied actors involved in the creation of a mixture of public and private property rights in a resource. Finally, the dissertation will relate the theoretical insights about institutions and property rights that emerge from the case study to the development of new communications technologies and systems today. %%%%
