Rent dissipation and administration of mining rent-seeking activities in resource-rich regions

Abstract

As non-productive activities, rent-seeking behaviors in the exploitation and utilization of mineral resources in resource-rich regions can not only bring about rent dissipation and the waste of social resources, but also lead to the unfair income distribution and lower social welfare. Based on the location quotient and Nelson’s method, this thesis identified coal-rich regions in China, decomposed the rent dissipation in mining rent seeking into social welfare net loss and rent-seeking cost, and analyzed the influencing factors. The conclusion shows that these resource-rich regions have prominent rent dissipation problems in the large-scale development of coal resources. The rent dissipation is mainly represented by the cost of rent seeking in the form of Tullock quadrilateral, which is highly correlated with the economic scale and resource-dependent economic development model. The improved marketization helps to reduce the loss of social welfare caused by rent seeking. On this basis, this thesis proposes corresponding countermeasures and suggestions to reform the taxation system of resource and environment, to establish a long-term mechanism for residents’ sustainable income increase, to deconstruct the system of resource property rights, and to improve the system of supervision, etc.