What Is Rent Seeking in Economics, and What Are Some Examples?

What Is Rent Seeking?

Rent seeking (or rent-seeking) is an economic concept that occurs when an entity seeks to gain added wealth without any reciprocal contribution of productivity. Typically, it revolves around government-funded social services and social service programs.

How Does Rent Seeking Work?

The concept of rent seeking was established in 1967 by Gordon Tullock and popularized by Anne Krueger in 1974. It evolved from the studies of Adam Smith, who is often regarded as the father of economics. The concept is based on an economic definition of “rent,” defined as economic wealth obtained through shrewd or potentially manipulative use of resources.

Smith’s studies suggested that entities earn income from wages, profit, and rent. To create profit usually requires the risk of capital with the goal of gaining a return. Earning wages comes from employment. However, rent is the easiest to obtain of the three income sources and can require little risk.

Economic rent is the income earned from the utilization of resource ownership. Entities that own resources can lend them to earn interest rents, lease them to earn rental income, or utilize them in other income-producing ways.

In general, the term “economic rent” has evolved to mean receiving a payment that exceeds the costs involved in the associated resource. Entities, therefore, will take rent-seeking steps to obtain economic rent that requires no reciprocal contribution of production.

Rent-Seeking Factors and Examples

Rent seeking is a byproduct of political legislation and government funding. Politicians decide the laws, regulations, and funding allocations that govern industries and government subsidy distributions. These legislations and actions manifest rent-seeking behaviors by offering economic rent with little or no reciprocity.

Business Rent Seekers

Business social service programs are typically designed to provide aid for businesses with the goal of fostering economic prosperity.

For example, businesses such as banks can lobby the government for help in the areas of competition, special subsidies, grants, and tariff protection. If a business succeeds in getting laws passed to limit their competition, bail them out of economic hardship, or create barriers to entry for others, it can achieve economic rents without any added productivity or capital at risk.

Licensing Requirements

Lobbying for the lessening of occupational licensing requirements is another very specific example of rent seeking. Doctors, dentists, airline pilots, and many other fields require licensing to practice. However, in many U.S. states, this licensing process is expensive and time-consuming.

Often, regulations exist due to past lobbying efforts from existing industry members. If certification and license obligations prevent newcomers from competing, fewer professionals may share the revenue. Thus, a more significant portion of money accrues to each existing member without additional economic benefit. Also, since limits to competition can be a driver for prices, consumers may be required to pay more.

Issues Arising from Rent Seeking

Rent seeking can disrupt market efficiencies and create pricing disadvantages for market participants. It has been known to cause limited competition and high barriers to entry.

Those that benefit from successful rent seeking obtain added economic rents without any added obligations. This can potentially create unfair advantages, specifically providing wealth to certain businesses that lead to greater market share at the detriment of competitors.

Lastly, rent-seeking wealth is typically a function of taxpayer funding. These tax revenues are used to provide economic wealth for rent seekers but may or may not improve the economic climate or produce any benefits for taxpayers at large. This can lead to disparaging funds that lack regeneration and require higher taxes in the future.

The Bottom Line

Rent seeking is an economic concept that occurs when an entity seeks to gain wealth without any reciprocal contribution of productivity. An example of rent seeking is when a company lobbies the government for grants, subsidies, or tariff protection.

Rent seeking comes in many forms from lobbying or donating funds. For example, if you donate money but write it off on your taxes, it could be considered a form of rent seeking. Rent seeking interferes with the efficient operation of the free market, and it imposes unfair prices and barriers on individuals and companies.