We investigate policy reform in a model with both lobbying, which involves a free-rider problem, and ordinary rent seeking, which does not. These activities involve similar skills, so a reform which reduces rents shifts labor into lobbying. Also, because of the free-rider problem, the marginal...

Esteban and Ray (2001) develop a model with an increasing marginal cost of contribution and overturn the Olson hypothesis that large groups are unable to provide themselves with a rival public good. Pecorino and Temimi (2008) consider fixed, but avoidable, participation costs in this framework....

We investigate policy reform in a model in which there are both rent seeking and lobbying activities. These two activities involve similar skills, so a reform which reduces rents will cause a shift into lobbying. Also, lobbying is subject to a free-rider problem, so the marginal return to the...