War as Rent-Seeking: A Public Choice Perspective on the Pacific War

Abstract

Historical literature on the causes of the Pacific War generally focuses on either international relationships between the great powers in the interwar period or on the role of domestic interest groups in Japan, especially the Imperial Army and Navy. An alternative to these predominantly narrative approaches is to consider Japanese imperialism as explained by the public choice concept of rent seeking. Seeing both imperial expansions through armed conquest and domestic interest group rivalry as forms of rent-seeking behavior can provide a unifying perspective for understanding the Pacific War.