When Ideas Trump Interests: Preferences, Worldviews, and Policy Innovations

摘要

Ideas are strangely absent from modern models of political economy. In most prevailing theories of policy choice, the dominant role is instead played by "vested interests"-elites, lobbies, and rent-seeking groups which get their way at the expense of the general public. Economists, political scientists, and other social scientists appeal to the power of special interests to explain key puzzles in regulation, international trade, economic growth and development, and many other fields. Why does regulation favor incumbent firms at the expense of consumers or potential entrants? Because bureaucracies can be captured by well-organized "insiders" who can shape regulation in their favor (Stigler 1971; Peltzman 1976; Laffont and Tirole 1991). Why are trade restrictions so rampant despite the well-known gains from trade? Because import tariffs and quotas redistribute incomes to politically powerful business groups and lobbies (Krueger 1974; Grossman and Helpman 1994; Rodrik 1995). Why do political elites not favor growth-promoting policies and institutions? Because growth-suppressing policies, such as weak property rights, excessive regulation, or overvalued currencies provide these elites with access to rents that would disappear otherwise (Bates 1981; Acemoglu and Robinson 2006, 2012). Insights from political-economy models in each of these fields exert a strong influence on the way economists think of societal outcomes and the operation of the political system.