Russia, the Rent-Seeking Revisionist

2020 ◽  
pp. 81-124
Author(s):  
Jonathan N. Markowitz

Chapter 5 focuses on how Russia, the most land-oriented Arctic littoral state, responded to the shock. This chapter analyzes how Russia’s political economy has influenced its foreign policy preferences. Specifically, this chapter illuminates how Russia’s economy and ruling elites came to depend on income from natural resources. This dependence drove Russia’s rulers to have a stronger interest in securing control over resource-rich territory, which, in turn, explains why they dramatically increased their Arctic military presence following the shock. The chapter chronicles Russia’s dual-track policy of simultaneously pursuing its claims through international institutions and gunboat diplomacy. These findings reveal that Russia invested more in increasing its Arctic military activity and force structure than any other Arctic state. This chapter affirms the book’s core theoretical prediction: the more economically dependent states are on natural resources, the stronger their interest in securing control over additional resources.

2020 ◽  
pp. 125-153
Author(s):  
Jonathan N. Markowitz

Chapter 6 examines how the United States, the most powerful production-oriented Arctic state, responded to the revelation of Arctic resources. If capabilities drive intentions, then the United States should project the most power to the region. However, if economic structure influences states’ preferences, as this book argues, then Washington should be more interested in securing access to markets and less concerned with seeking control over Arctic resources. This chapter provides a detailed account of the impact the United States’ production-based economy and broad governing coalition had on its Arctic foreign policy. Compared with the other Arctic states, the United States invested far less in bolstering its existing Arctic bases and icebreakers. In line with the book’s core predictions, the United States’ domestic political economy best explains Washington’s reluctance to make greater Arctic commitments and a concomitant lack of substantial investment in increasing the United States’ Arctic military presence throughout multiple administrations.


Liquidity ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-9
Author(s):  
Andilo Tohom

Indonesia is one of many countries in the world so called resource-rich country. Natural resources abundance needs to be managed in the right way in order to avoid dutch diseases and resources curses. These two phenomena generally happened in the country, which has abundant natural resources. Learned from Norwegian experiences, Indonesian Government need to focus its policy to prevent rent seeking activities. The literature study presented in this paper is aimed to provide important insight for government entities in focusing their policies and programs to avoid resources curse. From the internal audit perspective, this study is expected to improve internal audit’s role in assurance and consulting.


2017 ◽  
Vol 26 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Eldred

There is a critique of capitalist market economy that consists in claiming not only that capitalist social relations are uncaring and alienating, nor only exploitative of the working class, but that the process of capitalist economy as a whole is a way of living, today globalized, that has gotten out of hand. Its essential nature is unmasked as a senseless circular movement that, besides ruthlessly exploiting natural resources, demeans human being itself and alienates it from the historical alternative of a purportedly authentic mode of human being rooted in collective, solidaric subjectivity. The present article offers an alternative hermeneutic cast for understanding capitalism as the gainful game that can serve as philosophical orientation in fighting for a free and fair social interplay in which the powers and abilities of free individuals are appropriately and reciprocally estimated and esteemed. This requires, first and foremost, seeing through the fetishisms inherent in the valorization of reified value that the mature Marx identified in his critiques of political economy as the essential nature of capitalism. Such critical insight is necessary for orientation also in today’s predicament of the ever more encroaching and ensnaring cyberworld.


Politeja ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (6(69)) ◽  
pp. 19-50
Author(s):  
Weronika J. Krawczyk

This article examines the process of public finance fraud leading to unjust enrichment of ruling elites in Angola, a resource-rich, yet ironically povertytrapped country, owing to decades of rule of José Eduardo dos Santos. It analyses the phenomenon of political corruption in the Angolan context, translating into mismanagement of public revenues coming from natural resources as a means of attaining private economic benefits and consolidating power. Moreover, by examining cross-border inter-company networks aimed at concealing public assets behind front companies, the author attempts to establish a connection between corruption and illicit financial flows. Ultimately, since political corruption is intrinsically linked to governance, the article looks at the impact of the latter on social development as well as on the effectiveness of development aid granted to Angola. It was written based on secondary resources including existing literature and material evidence. Its findings and conclusions correspond with the overall theory postulated by the academic community, maintaining that natural resources and aid have negative impact on governance, institutional accountability, and in consequence on human development, especially in countries characterised by despotic rule.


1989 ◽  
Vol 55 (4) ◽  
pp. 1063 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jerry Evensky ◽  
Charles Rowley ◽  
Robert Tollison ◽  
Gordon Tullock

2013 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-22 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michele Boldrin ◽  
David K Levine

The case against patents can be summarized briefly: there is no empirical evidence that they serve to increase innovation and productivity, unless productivity is identified with the number of patents awarded—which, as evidence shows, has no correlation with measured productivity. Both theory and evidence suggest that while patents can have a partial equilibrium effect of improving incentives to invent, the general equilibrium effect on innovation can be negative. A properly designed patent system might serve to increase innovation at a certain time and place. Unfortunately, the political economy of government-operated patent systems indicates that such systems are susceptible to pressures that cause the ill effects of patents to grow over time. Our preferred policy solution is to abolish patents entirely and to find other legislative instruments, less open to lobbying and rent seeking, to foster innovation when there is clear evidence that laissez-faire undersupplies it. However, if that policy change seems too large to swallow, we discuss in the conclusion a set of partial reforms that could be implemented


Agribusiness ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 31 (4) ◽  
pp. 543-563 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chiara Landi ◽  
Gianluca Stefani

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