This study looked at how having to fight for property rights at the start affects the Coase theory's effectiveness. In a lab experiment, participants first competed to gain these rights and then bargained with each other. Results show that when there's a cost to claim the rights, reaching an efficient outcome (the best result) is less likely. Adding bargaining costs doesn't change much unless these costs are unequal, making it harder to get a good result. This has implications for situations where natural resource rights are both contestable and tradable.