Rents, Rent-Seeking and Economic Development: Theory and Evidence in Asia

Rent-seeking is about buying influence, which can range from lobbying to corruption. The concepts of rents and rent-seeking are central to any discussion of the processes of economic development. Yet conventional models of rent-seeking are unable to explain how it can drive decades of rapid growth in some countries, and at other times be associated with spectacular economic crises. This book argues that the rent-seeking framework has to be radically extended if it is to explain the anomalous role played by rent-seeking in Asian countries.