In the early part of the 19th century sculptures on the Parthenon in Athens were removed under the direction of the Earl of Elgin, then the British ambassador to the Ottoman Empire, which at the time included Greece. The sculptures were brought to Britain, finding their way to the custody of the British Museum in London in 1816, where they are viewed by millions of visitors annually. A debate long has simmered as to whether these Parthenon Marbles, which date from the 5th century BCE, should be returned to Athens or remain in the United Kingdom. Much of the debate concerns the legitimacy of Elgin's original transfer of the Marbles and, relatedly, their current rightful owner.

This article employs a Law-and-Economics, efficiency-based lens to examine the “property dispute” surrounding the Marbles. The efficiency inquiry centers on what location for the Marbles will do the best job of satisfying human preferences, which depend to a large extent on access to the Marbles and the quality of that access. Coase-like reasoning is applied to the question of the “highest-valued” location of the Marbles, supplemented with behavioral economics concepts involving cultural identity and endowment effects. The article concludes by offering some contours for a potentially Pareto-improving agreement that would result in the reunification of the Parthenon Marbles in Greece.