Rent Extraction by Capitalists

36 Pages Posted: 3 May 2016

See all articles by Markus Brueckner

Markus Brueckner

The Australian National University

Date Written: May 1, 2016

Abstract

Rent extraction by capitalists is present if the capital income share exceeds the capital output elasticity. Based on a sample of 111 countries during the period 1970-2010, this paper provides estimates of the capital output elasticity and compares these to countries’ capital income shares. Three findings arise: (i) for the average country in the sample, the capital income share significantly exceeds the capital output elasticity; (ii) the difference between the capital income share and the capital output elasticity has increased since the 1980s; (iii) in democracies the capital income share is not significantly different from the capital output elasticity.

Keywords: capital output elasticity, capital income share, rent extraction

JEL Classification: E0, O4

Suggested Citation

Brueckner, Markus, Rent Extraction by Capitalists (May 1, 2016). CAMA Working Paper No. 20/2016 , Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2773359 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2773359

Markus Brueckner (Contact Author)

The Australian National University ( email )

Canberra, Australian Capital Territory 2601
Australia

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