Search results for ""Author Roger D. Congleton""

An original account of the role of ethical dispositions in the development of prosperous commercial societies In Solving Social Dilemmas, Roger Congleton provides an explanation for the rise of prosperous commercial societies. Congleton argues that an endless series of social, economic, and political dilemmas have to be solved or ameliorated to sustain social and economic progress and suggests that the most plausible solutions involve internalized rules of conduct. Previous foundational texts suggest that institutions often emerge to address social dilemmas, but Congleton focuses on a solution that is arguably prior to formal institutions: the internalization of principles and rules of conduct that directly affect individual behavior and thereby group outcomes. Supported by an intellectual and analytical history of the emergence of commercial societies in the West, the book uses elementary game theory to review a few dozen social, economic, and political dilemmas that need to be solved if prosperous societies are to emerge. It shows that ethical dispositions are likely to play important roles in solutions to all the problems examined-and arguably many more. Congleton does not claim that commercial networks result from ethical as opposed to unethical behavior, but that some ethical systems include rules that support the development of extended market networks, specialization, and innovation. As evidence the book traces how the increasing support of commerce in ethical theories in the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries helped launch "the great acceleration" and the emergence of the first truly commercial societies. By combining substantive theoretical work with analysis of centuries of ethical writings, Solving Social Dilemmas reveals that commercial societies have moral foundations.

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This collection brings together the classic papers on the economics of rent seeking. These papers date from Gordon Tullock's original 1967 paper which first put forth the idea that the pursuit of transfers was socially costly. Other classic papers by Anne Krueger and Richard Posner are included, as well as a series of more recent papers which trace the evolution of the literature on this important innovation in economic theory.

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This twenty-seven chapter book provides an excellent and accessible overview of the literature on rent seeking since its inception. What makes the book a fascinating reading is its application to different areas, such as regulation and economic aid, and presentation of an array of highly readable cases studies, including on China, Greece, India and Russia. It is a must for both students of public finance and policy makers.'- Sanjeev Gupta, International Monetary Fund'Indeed, this book is an indispensable companion to everyone working on rent seeking or the theory or politics of contests. It combines excellent surveys and innovative work of the most eminent researchers in this field.'- Kai Konrad, Director, Max Planck Institute for Tax Law and Public Finance, Munich, GermanyThe quest for benefit from existing wealth or by seeking privileged benefit through influence over policy is known as rent seeking. Much rent seeking activity involves government and political decisions and is therefore in the domain of political economy, although rent seeking can also take place in personal relations and within firms and bureaucracies. The contributions in this outstanding volume provide an accompaniment or 'companion' to the literature on rent seeking and the related political economy of rent creation and extraction. The chapters, written by leading scholars in the field, demonstrate the centrality of rent-related incentives to the study of economics, politics, culture, public administration and history.The expert and original contributions summarize and extend the literature in both theoretical and applied areas of research. The book begins with a clear and comprehensive description of the theory of rent seeking and of contest design for political and bureaucratic rent extraction. This is followed by a series of case studies showing the relevance of rent seeking for regulatory policies, international-trade policies, public finance, natural-resource discoveries, development aid, behavior in international bureaucracies, litigation and judicial systems. The applied chapters also include overviews of rent seeking and rent extraction in Europe, Russia, Asia, Africa and the US.This volume will appeal to a broad readership, including economists, political scientists and development practitioners, wishing to gain an understanding of the concept of rent seeking. The chapters in this book also provide an excellent introduction to the extensive literature.Contributors: J. A. Amegashie, M. Brooks, R.D. Congleton, G. Dari-Mattiacci, R.T. Deacon, G.S. Epstein, S. Flamand, R.J. Hagan, A.L. Hillman, R.G. Holcombe, C. Kang, M.S. Kimenyi, E. Langlais, M.I. Levin, N. Van Long, B. Lovat, B. Luppi, S. Marjit, J.M. Mbaku, Y. Mealem, T. Moutos, D. C. Mueller, V. Mukherjee, S. Nitzan, M. Paldam, F. Parisi, L. Pechlivanos, L. Qijun, A. Rode, G.A.Satarov, R.M. Sheremeta, W.F. Shughart II, D.W. Thomas, G. Tridimas, O. Troumpounis, R. Vaubel, K. Wärneryd

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