The paper argues that it is useful to view property regimes as information
regimes. A conceptual model and numerical example are used to show that, un
der some reasonable assumptions, a common property regime is preferable to
a private property regime when property regimes are viewed as information r
egimes. The paper considers a case of idiosyncratic risk in a dynamic grazi
ng context where the marginality of the resource is such that insurance mar
kets are thin or non-existent. Agents are thought to be risk averse and exo
genous enforcement of a risk sharing scheme is not feasible. The policy imp
lication is that the establishment and maintenance of a common property reg
ime is shown to be a (possibly) reasonable institutional response in the fa
ce of difficult and particular circumstances when property regimes are view
ed as information regimes.