Words are supposed to mean things, and this phrase seems to have a very specific meaning.
Posted on 07/22/2025 2:52:29 PM PDT by E. Pluribus Unum
Rent-seeking and exams in India’s public sector exams.
In India, government jobs pay far more than equivalent jobs in the private sector—so much so that the entire labor market and educational system have become grossly distorted by rent-seeking to obtain these jobs. Teachers in the public sector, for example, are paid at least five times more than in the private sector. It’s not just the salary. When accounting for lifetime tenure, generous perks, and potentially remunerative possibilities for corruption, a government job’s total value can be up to 10 times that of an equivalent private sector job. (See also here.)
As a result, it’s not uncommon for thousands of people to apply for every government job—a ratio far higher than in the private sector. In one famous example, 2.3 million people submitted applications for 368 “office boy” positions in Uttar Pradesh.
The consequences of this intense competition for government jobs are severe. First, as Karthik Muralildharan argues, the Indian government can’t afford to pay for all the workers it needs. India has all the laws of, say, the United States, but about one-fifth the number of government workers per capita, leading to low state capacity.
But there is a second problem which may be even more serious. Competition to obtain government jobs wastes tremendous amounts of resources and distorts the labor and educational market.
If jobs were allocated randomly, applications would be like lottery tickets, with few social costs. Government jobs, however, are often allocated by exam performance. Thus, obtaining a government job requires an “investment” in exam preparation. Many young people spend years out of the workforce studying for exams that, for nearly all of them,...
(Excerpt) Read more at fee.org ...
Sounds like public schools in New York
The enormous local public sector in India is the most coercive cause holding back India from having first world abilities.
Which is why so many end up here.
I hate the term “rent-seeker”.
99% of the population hasn’t a clue of what it means, and it confuses people into thinking that it has to do something about rents for houses.
A much better and more widely understood term is “favor seeking” usually through some form of bribes to the person or organization in position to dispense the favor. Lobbying of congress is a perfect example of this.
Organizations or individuals “lobby” (seek favors) from the government by “donating” “campaign contributions” and kickbacks. It’s the definition of a bribe.
Words are supposed to mean things, and this phrase seems to have a very specific meaning.
Wrong. It is genetics.
Cut government pay? No way, Raj!
Rent seeking is living off other people’s work.
You don’t create new wealth.
It’s just a transfer of ones labor to your pocket.
FIRE based economies are rent seeking writ large.
Throw in all the Crony Goobermint Grifting and ya got America in 2024.
MAGA gonna change that Shiiiite bigly!
It’s a totally unnecessary term created by some academician to make themselves feel superior and to awe the unwashed masses with their brilliance.
“Favor seeking” is a much better and more easily understood term, but using it would make it too understandable to the plebes.
Bribery would even be better because in essence it’s what it is.
Does it make you wonder why the Indian bureaucrats keep government pay so much higher than the private. Could it have something to do with dispensing favors (a lucrative position) and getting a kickback or two under the table?
And I would not at all be surprised if some of the biggest political donors are the ones running these schools.
Yeah, well no more.
“Rent seeking is living off other people’s work.”
And it’s why it’s such a bad term. It implies that an owner of an apartment , maintaining it, managing it paying insurance, mortgage, etc and then renting it out is somehow “wrong” and “immoral”.
That would mean that every business that makes a profit would fall under the same category, because they’re making it off of other people’s work.
Not only is it an utterly confusing and inappropriate term, but a vile one and should be banished from the vocabulary.
If you’re going to coin a new term, it should be to elucidate a concept not to murky it up!
You proved your own point. You don’t understand the term either.
Unions are rent seekers.
Protectionist are rent seekers
Trade guilds are rent seekers
Professionals in government enforced licensing - rent seekers
Sole sourced municipal contracts for services - rent seeking
To name a few.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.