Title: What Is Rent-Seeking Behavior?
Headings: What Is Rent-Seeking Behavior?
What Is Rent-Seeking Behavior?
Content: There is incentive to join the rent-seeking pirate trade. By the time 10 pirates are competing for plunder, the profit of honest merchants has dropped to just 10%. At 20 pirates, there would be no profit remaining and no incentive to engage in the shipping trade. The rent-seeking of pirates motivates merchants to spend their resources to prevent the theft. They sail with an armed escort. They pay privateers to capture the pirates. Even if these efforts cost 15%, they will still preserve a 5% profit. If the effort costs much more, however, shipping will simply cease. All of this expense could be avoided if incentives to be a rent-seeking pirate were somehow eliminated. When I (David John Marotta) was applying for college, I was told that hundreds of scholarships, many based on merit, were available.