Traditional economic theory regards the social costs of monopoly as the reduction in both consumer and producer surplus as a result of monopolization of certain sectors of the economy. Recent research has shown that a proper accounting of the social costs of monopoly must include the costs of...

The 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 it can also take place in...

Johan Bring (1994), in his criticism of my paper on Cameroon (Mbaku, 1993), raises several issues related to the definition of aid, the time span used in the study, and the methodology adopted. In this reply, I shall address these issues and outline what I believe to be the key contributions and...