Diploma Thesis from the year 2007 in the subject Economics - Finance, grade: 1,7, Helmut Schmidt University - University of the Federal Armed Forces Hamburg (Professur für Volkswirtschaftslehre, insb. Finanzwissenschaft), language: English, abstract: This paper addresses a ma jor paradox of the economic world, the seemingly negative impact of wealth in form of natural resources and development aid on growth. In the last 50 years a striking discrepancy in the economic performance of countries blessed by massive windfall gains became obvious. Robust empirical evidence was produced showing an inverse relation of both natural resources and development aid on economic growth. Regressions involving migrant's remittances did also yield ambiguous results under certain conditions. I try to embrace all windfall gains under the notion of "Easy Rents", characterised by easy generation of, easy access to and easy control over the abundant monetary assets. The influence of the rents is proposed to work through biased price distortions, induced by sectoral competition, rent-seeking and \bad" economic policy, creating unfavourable conditions for the growth-driving tradables sector. The conducted research and empirical testing indicates the appreciation of relative prices caused by political and economic disturbance. Following the results, a strong tendency of "Easy Rents" to exert deteriorating influence on a economy seems to be in place.

Diploma Thesis from the year 2007 in the subject Economics - Finance, grade: 1,7, Helmut Schmidt University - University of the Federal Armed Forces Hamburg (Professur für Volkswirtschaftslehre, insb. Finanzwissenschaft), language: English, abstract: This paper addresses a ma jor paradox of the economic world, the seemingly negative impact of wealth in form of natural resources and development aid on growth. In the last 50 years a striking discrepancy in the economic performance of countries blessed by massive windfall gains became obvious. Robust empirical evidence was produced showing an inverse relation of both natural resources and development aid on economic growth. Regressions involving migrant's remittances did also yield ambiguous results under certain conditions. I try to embrace all windfall gains under the notion of "Easy Rents", characterised by easy generation of, easy access to and easy control over the abundant monetary assets. The influence of the rents is proposed to work through biased price distortions, induced by sectoral competition, rent-seeking and \bad" economic policy, creating unfavourable conditions for the growth-driving tradables sector. The conducted research and empirical testing indicates the appreciation of relative prices caused by political and economic disturbance. Following the results, a strong tendency of "Easy Rents" to exert deteriorating influence on a economy seems to be in place.

Rent Seeking and Human Capital: How the Hunt for Rents Is Changing Our Economic and Political Landscape explores the debates around rent seeking and contextualizes it within the capitalist economy. It is vital that the field of economics does a better job of analyzing and making policy recommendations that reduce the opportunities and rewards for rent seeking, generating returns from the redistribution of wealth rather than wealth creation. This short and provocative book addresses the key questions: Who are the rent seekers? What do they do? Where do they come from? What are the consequences of rent seeking for the broader economy? And, finally: What should policymakers do about them? The chapters examine the existing literature on rent seeking, including looking at the differences between rent seeking and economic rent. The work provides an in-depth look at the case of the impact of rent seeking degrees in the United States, particularly in business and law, and explores potential policy remedies, such as a wealth tax, changes to the rules on financial transactions, and patent law reform. This text provides an important intervention on rent seeking for students and scholars of heterodox economics, political economy, inequality, and anyone interested in the shape of the modern capitalist economy.