PRIVATE PROPERTY: A fundamental economic institution in which resources (property) are owned and controlled by households and businesses (the private sector) rather than government (the public sector). Private property provides critical incentives for the efficient operation of competitive market and a market-oriented economy. Under private-property ownership, control over resources is relinquished (that is sold) when the owners are compensated for their opportunity costs. And this is just the sort of thing that leads to an efficient use of resources.

     See also | institution | resources | ownership and control | household | business | private sector | government | public sector | efficiency | competitive market | market-oriented economy | opportunity cost |

PRIVATE PROPERTY, AmosWEB GLOSS*arama, http://www.AmosWEB.com, AmosWEB LLC, 2000-2025. [Accessed: July 14, 2025].

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The proposition that opportunity cost, the value of foregone production, increases as the quantity of a good produced increases. This fundamental economic principles can be seen in the production possibilities schedule and is illustrated graphically through the slope of the production possibilities curve. It generates a distinctive convex shape, flat at the top and steep at the bottom.

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