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Rent Seeking Can Promote The Provision Of Public Goods

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  • Tyler Cowen
  • Amihai Glazer
  • Henry McMillan

Abstract

Public officials often have little incentive to spend time and effort proposing policies that benefit others. When, however, some public policies generate rents to these officials, rent seeking in politics can motivate them to provide public goods. We consider the motivational effects of rent seeking on (i) policy, (ii) the the role of agenda‐setting in social choice theory, (iii) the effects of graft and corruption in government, and (iv) the validity of cost‐benefit analysis.

Suggested Citation

  • Tyler Cowen & Amihai Glazer & Henry McMillan, 1994. "Rent Seeking Can Promote The Provision Of Public Goods," Economics and Politics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 6(2), pages 131-145, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:ecopol:v:6:y:1994:i:2:p:131-145
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1468-0343.1994.tb00092.x
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Heinrich W. Ursprung, 2008. "Public Goods, Rent Dissipation, And Candidate Competition," Springer Books, in: Roger D. Congleton & Arye L. Hillman & Kai A. Konrad (ed.), 40 Years of Research on Rent Seeking 1, pages 329-346, Springer.
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    6. Richard A. Posner, 1975. "The Social Costs of Monopoly and Regulation," Springer Books, in: Roger D. Congleton & Kai A. Konrad & Arye L. Hillman (ed.), 40 Years of Research on Rent Seeking 2, pages 45-65, Springer.
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    8. repec:bla:kyklos:v:36:y:1983:i:4:p:634-37 is not listed on IDEAS
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    Cited by:

    1. Ratbek Dzhumashev, 2014. "The Two-Way Relationship Between Government Spending And Corruption And Its Effects On Economic Growth," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 32(2), pages 403-419, April.
    2. Li, Shuhe & Lian, Peng, 1999. "Decentralization and coordination: China's credible commitment to preserve the market under authoritarianism," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 10(2), pages 161-190.
    3. Daniel Sutter, 1997. "Enforcing Constitutional Constraints," Constitutional Political Economy, Springer, vol. 8(2), pages 139-150, June.
    4. Xiaowei Zang, 2010. "Why Are the Elite in China Motivated to Promote Growth?," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2010-084, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    5. Peter Jaworski, 2014. "An Absurd Tax on our Fellow Citizens: The Ethics of Rent Seeking in the Market Failures (or Self-Regulation) Approach," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 121(3), pages 467-476, May.
    6. del Río, Fernando, 2018. "Governance, social infrastructure and productivity," MPRA Paper 86245, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 16 Apr 2018.
    7. repec:jpe:journl:1529 is not listed on IDEAS

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