That is the title of my newly (if belatedly) published paper, with Maria Damon, Elinor Ostrom, and Thomas Sterner in the Review of Environmental Economics and Policy.
Abstract
"Grandfathering” grants preferential
treatment to existing resource users over new entrants based on prior
use. Grandfathering is based on the concept of first-in-time or prior
appropriation and has been applied to a broad range of environmental and
resource issues. We synthesize legal, economic, and political science
perspectives and find that grandfathering removes incentives for users
to anticipate regulations with proactive abatement. We analyze
institutions ranging from long-enduring common-property regimes to
climate negotiations to identify how grandfathering can be detrimental
to sustainability, but we also show that it can be the only possible
mechanism for bringing stakeholders to the table.
The full paper can be accessed (behind a pay wall) here: https://academic.oup.com/reep/advance-article-abstract/doi/10.1093/reep/rey017/5304826?redirectedFrom=fulltext
