{"product_id":"efficient-rent-seeking-chronicle-of-an-intellectual-quagmire-von-alan-lockard-gordon-tullock-hrsg","title":"Efficient Rent-Seeking","description":"\n                                Some time ago one of the editors (Gordon Tullock) stumbled on a  paradox in the competition for rents. He asked a previous research  assistant (William Hunter) to work out some examples and gave a  seminar on it. For reasons he cannot recall (but probably bad) he  titled his talk `Efficient Rent Seeking'. As Editor of Public Choice  he was able to publish without a referee. Incidentally, The Journal of  Political Economy had turned it down on the grounds that the economy  could not be that chaotic, and hence there must be something wrong  even if the referee couldn't put his finger on it. \n                \n                \u003cbr\u003e\n                                  There followed a long series of articles, mainly in Public Choice, in  which various distinguished scholars proposed solutions to the  paradox. The editor responded by finding fault with these solutions.  In this case the editor was arguing against interest. He, like the  referee for the JPE, believed that the market works, if not perfectly,  at least very well. Nevertheless, the paradox resisted and persisted.  It was like the paradox of the liar, and indeed in some cases did show  exactly that paradox.\n                \n                \u003cbr\u003e\n                                  Eventually everyone, including the editor, grew tired of the matter  and the discussion sort of wound down, although it could not be said  that it was either solved or even abated. It also began to appear that  it had a much larger scope than just competitive rent seeking. Any  contest for wealth, privilege, or prestige in which the chances of  winning were affected by the investment of the contestants would  appear to be subject to the same problem. The sum of the investments  in equilibrium might be much less than the prize or much more. It  depended on the structure of the contest, but the range of structures  seemed to include almost all economic competition. Clearly, from the  standpoint of economics, this was a distressing conclusion. Perhaps  the whole vast structure of economic analysis rested on faulty  foundations.\n                \n                \u003cbr\u003e\n                                  Speaking frankly, neither of the editors thinks the situation is that  desperate. We feel that there is a logical solution, even if we do not  know what it is. The purpose of this volume is to attempt to get  economists to turn to the problem and, hopefully, solve the paradox.  We present here a substantial portion of the literature on the matter.  We hope that the readers will be stimulated to think about the problem  and, even more, we hope they will be able to solve it.\n            \n            \u003cdiv class=\"aw-variant-hidden-subtitle-div\" id=\"aw-variant-subtitle-9780792372424\"\u003e\u003ch3\u003eChronicle of an Intellectual Quagmire\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv class=\"aw-variant-hidden-subtitle-div\" id=\"aw-variant-subtitle-9781441948663\"\u003e\u003ch3\u003eChronicle of an Intellectual Quagmire\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Libri","offers":[{"title":"Hardcover - 9780792372424","offer_id":50726558022,"sku":"9780792372424","price":160.49,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true},{"title":"Softcover - 9781441948663","offer_id":39415713661021,"sku":"9781441948663","price":160.49,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0940\/0622\/files\/a2de2327-d33d-40bd-9feb-a189e5fc4d94.jpg?v=1761628238","url":"https:\/\/shop.autorenwelt.de\/products\/efficient-rent-seeking-chronicle-of-an-intellectual-quagmire-von-alan-lockard-gordon-tullock-hrsg","provider":"Autorenwelt Shop","version":"1.0","type":"link"}