Abstract
Irrespective of the nature of a state, the issue of rent seeking remains ubiquitous. This paper assesses the prevalence of rent seeking from local governance perspective providing a focus on the major causes, forms and the efforts made in Adigrat Town. In so doing, the study has used both quantitative and qualitative research methodologies. Primary and secondary data sources were also utilized. Accordingly, the sluggish form of public services, lack of institutionalized practices, prevalence of mutual mistrusts, materialistic and self-centered motives, and embedded patrimonial relations have unleashed the practices of rent seeking in the Town. Bureaucratic corruption, lobbying practices, bribery, and actions of collusive interests were endemic forms of rent seeking prevailed in the Town. In connection, rent seeking situations where individuals negotiate over exclusive benefits and favor-seeking groups capture the public offices were common. Remedies of mainstreaming rent seeking as a public agenda, regular evaluation on performances, involvement of stakeholders in decision making, enforcement of legal measurement, introduction of ICT, and awareness creation were found too nascent. Thus, the respective public sectors should acquaint with anti-rent seeking strategies including meritocracy, party and government roles delineation, rebuilding the social capital, independent law enforcement, and delivering ICT-backed services.
Highlights
The political economy of rent seeking had been reflected in the ancient political and ideological movements in history
Informants from the offices of Municipality and Trade and Industry have added other major causes of political economy of rent seeking in the Town as follows
An assessment has been done on the prevalence of political economy of rent seeking and the remedies employed to minimize it in Adigrat Tow local governance
Summary
The political economy of rent seeking had been reflected in the ancient political and ideological movements in history. The ancient civilizations, Roman Empire, the 16th-18th c Mercantilist Western Europe, ideology of socialism, and the state capitalism were not independent of the culture of rent seeking [5]. The intensified prevalence of rent seeking in the socio-economic and political systems of countries made the issue acquire augmented academic attentions and discussions [28]. Krueger has attempted to look at the political economy of rent seeking society taking the empirical evidences from Turkey and India to explain the resources expended by private sectors in capturing the privileged exports and import-licenses influencing government officials in which the competitive rent tended to precipitate unnecessary waste of talents, time, money, energy and efforts which otherwise could be productive [26]. The resources which could be used in rent seeking process are costs because they are being utilized to distort the fair benefit distribution [22]
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