As one subdivides the process of production vertically into a greater and greater number of simpler tasks, some of these tasks become so simple that a machine could do them. … [We are led to] the discovery of … opportunities for mechanization.#Quoted in Peter Lewin, Capital in Disequilibrium (1999)
As the potential rents from resources rise, as the value of the resource increases, more efforts will be devoted to definition and enforcement activity. The worth of perfectly defined and enforced rights is represented by the net present value of the rents and individuals would be willing to spend up to that amount to obtain these rights. If the rents can be obtained for less than this amount, net rents will be positive and society’s output will be greater.#