Title: What is rent-seeking? Definition and meaning - Market Business News
Headings: What is rent-seeking? Definition and meaning
What is rent-seeking? Definition and meaning
Rent-seeking behaviors of lobbying
Rent-seeking licensing rackets
Rent-seeking in government
Video – Rent-Seeking – Definition and Meaning

Content: When there is a lack of competition – imperfect competition – and rent-seeking behaviors are rife, prices remain high. ** Perfect competition does not exist in any country – it is a theoretical free-market Utopia where there are lots of sellers and buyers, none of whom is able to have any significant impact on the prices of products or services. All the suppliers and consumers seek to maximize their profit (income). Rent-seeking in government
Corruption among public officials (civil servants) and politicians is also within the notion of rent-seeking. While corruption in government is higher in some countries than others, no nation on Earth is completely free of it. Civil servants who work in the tax office, for example, and solicit and extract bribes for coming to special arrangements with individuals or companies, or offer to look the other way, are guilty of rent-seeking. These bureaucrats are enriching themselves without contributing anything to the wealth of the nation. When a regulatory agency – which was first set up to protect consumers and police a certain industry – changes and eventually prioritizes the rights and benefits of the companies in that sector over those of consumers – this is known as regulatory capture and means that rent-seeking has raised its ugly head. A good way of appreciating what regulatory capture is, is to imagine a group of sheep farmers that sets up a Sheep-Protection Agency. The agency’s aim is to protect the sheep from wolves.