Todays examples of rentier states include gulf nations such as qatar, bahrain, saudi arabia, the united arab emirates, kuwait, and oman, where governments reap massive international revenues rents from oil exportation, and thus have the. Even the median country, deriving under two per cent of. After world war ii 193945 the usa became the main international exploiter and chief rentier state. A rethought definition rentier state theory, asserts that a populations political loyalty. Its deep influence on public debate is best illustrated by new york times journalist thomas friedmans famous observation that in resourcerich countries the price of oil and. One point was earned for identifying nigeria as a rentier state, but no point was earned for describing a problem that a rentier state faces and the impact of that problem on economic development. Income measurement in arab states 2 the rentier state in the. Rentier state theory is a set of ideas about why states with considerable natural resource wealth. His results strongly support the orthodox position on rentier states.
The concept of the rentier state, or the rentier economy, applies to a country that relies on substantial external rent in the form of the sale of oil, transit charges suez canal, or tourism. Oct 11, 20 todays examples of rentier states include gulf nations such as qatar, bahrain, saudi arabia, the united arab emirates, kuwait, and oman, where governments reap massive international revenues rents from oil exportation, and thus have the financial resources necessary to buy off their citizens. The patterns and problems of economic development in. The rise to power of leon mba and the foccart network leading to the bongo regime are just a few of the key elements examined.
Is rentier state theory sufficient to explain the politics. Aug 26, 2016 examples of rentier states include oil producing countries in the middle east region including saudi arabia, united arab emirates, iraq, iran, kuwait and qatar as well as states such as venezuela and libya in latin america and north africa, all of whom are members of opec. For example, where the government is the largest and ultimate employer, the bureaucracy is frequently bloated and inefficient. That is, who stands to gain from deflation, and lose if inflation is, say, 4 percent over a period of 10 years. Introduction the focus of this study is on the rentier character of state and economy in relation to capital accumulation during the period of 19601997 in iran. The implications of the rentier state theory regarding the. The rentier state theory has informed much scholarly research on the middle east and north africa mena region. Rentier state is a concept applied to either states that are rich in natural resources e. The origin of the rentier model in the middle east ifri. The article limited itself to the description and analysis of the iranian. A person who lives on income from property or investments. French, from rente, yearly income, from old french.
The state or the government, being the principal rentier in the economy, plays the crucial role of the prime mover of the economic activity. Rentier state theory rst is a political economy theory that seeks to explain state society relations in states that generate a large proportion of their income from rents, or externallyderived, unproductivelyearned payments. In rentier state theory, the state derives most of its revenue from renting resources such as oil to foreign powers. To support customers with accessing online resources, igi global is offering a 50% discount on all ebook and ejournals. Rentier states rarely assess taxes, and often acquire. Let us return to the topic of natural resources and institutions.
This implies that a substantial portion of revenues from the sale of. Rentier definition in the cambridge english dictionary. Munich 2008, isbn 9783640111107 ebook about the rentier state syria. The rentier state in the arab world hazem beblawi introduction the concept of a rentier state has gained renewed interest with the advent of the oil era and the emergence of the new arab oilproducing states. Introduction1 the present paper aims to arrive at a set of guidelines that help to study state formation, state reformation and state deformation processes in the postcolonial states of the arab middle east. Citizens of rentier states often though not always have little loyalty to these countries, which may go through difficult transition periods when the natural resources run out. By way of definition, in this context, an economy is considered rentier if it obtains on a regular basis an extensive sum of external rent mahdavi,1970.
For example, a landlord who agrees to rent out a house for a set amount each month for a year is a member of the rentier class. A main theorist of the rentier state theories argues that in a rentier state, the government is the principal recipient of the external rent in the economy. First, in many countries of the world, subsoil resources like oil and other minerals are taken to be a public utility in which the state reserves a sovereign interest based on the principle of eminent domain. In a rentier state, the public institutions alone are rentier. Mahdavy introduced the concept of rentier states to desig nate a situation under which the states dependence on external rents that have very little to do with the productive effort of the society as a whole is predominant. Jun 25, 20 in other words, rentier state weak state. Economic adjustment and reform in the context of a rentier. A state or government that has access to a great deal of liquidity and uses it to maintain hegemony over its population. Rentier state law and legal definition rentier state means a country that receives substantial amounts of oil or other types of revenues from the outside world on a regular basis.
Introduction1 the present paper aims to arrive at a set of guidelines that help to study stateformation, state reformation and state deformation processes in the postcolonial states of the arab middle east. Before world war i 191418 the major rentier states were great britain, france, and germany. Though the term makes an analogy with the old rentearning class of great landowners, rentiers are characterized by their more distant relationship to the property they own. Hence, theorists such as beblawi and luciani conclude that the nature of rentier states provides a particular explanation for the presence of authoritarian regimes in such resource rich states. A theory of late rentierism in the arab states of the gulf. The present paper attempts to bridge the gap between the rentseeking view of resource rents as a source of conflict and the rentier state view which emphasizes the role of resource rents in promoting peace and. Feb 04, 2016 observing the rents accrued by the governments of gulf states, the allure of implementing rentier state theory rst in explaining their politics is easy to comprehend. However, to large sections of the local oilbearing communities, the commodity is mainly a source of anxiety and misery. Rentier state an imperialist usurer state that enriches itself by exporting capital to other states, primarily those that are economically underdeveloped and dependent. The contributions and limitations of rentier state theory in the gulf were the focus of a. Dating from colonial history, the state has made systematic and sustained efforts to.
The response earned no point for the statement that a rentier state is a state in which the government gets help from other nations. The term rentier state has been used since the 20th century, in a number of ways. Pdf misunderstanding the definition of rentier state. The role and the nature of the state has been greatly affected by this fact. Rentier is a class of people who derive their incomes from financial titles to property. Rentier states rarely assess taxes, and often acquire their liquidity through the sale of their natural resources, such as oil. The hegemonic and pluralist types of rentier state have more credible intertemporal commitment. The middle eastern case rolf schwarz graduate institute of international studies, geneva paper to be presented at the fifth paneuropean conference on international relations, ecpr standing group on international relation, section 34 international relations meet area studies. Is it little old ladies living on fixed incomes, and salt of the earth workers who have scrimped and saved. However, there is a large literature on how socalled rentier states manage to pacify opposition groups by handing out special favors. The arab oil states thus correspond to our definition of rentier states.
The other argument which has connected resource wealth, specifically oil, and political institutions, is that of the rentier state. In a celebrated passage, adam smith distinguished between rent and other sources of income. Today gulfs oil monarchies, archetypes within the rentier state theory are, in contrast. Rentier classes financial definition of rentier classes. Rentier economy has farreaching political, social, and cultural consequences. First, oil revenues are paid to governments in the form of rent. This opportunity is ideal for librarian customers convert previously acquired print holdings to electronic format at a 50% discount.
May 22, 2017 rentier state meaning rentier state definition rentier stat. For a long time it has served as a leading explanation for weak political institutions in oilrich countries. Using pooled timeseries crossnational data from 105 states between 1971 and 1997, this paper finds that oil exports are strongly associated with authoritarian rule. The rentier state syndrome described above means that resource dependence comes with several structural characteristics that make achieving good outcomes in rent generation and distribution difficultlarge windfall rents materialising over a short time frame, concentrated ownership and decision. Economic adjustment and reform in the context of a rentier state bassam fattouh. Oil and the rentier state loyola university chicago. For instance, the countries such as iran, the gulf states, many african states like nigeria, gabon with abundant resource wealth are called rentier. A class of people who rely largely on rent, pensions, or similar means for their income.
The theoretical articulation of the concepts rentier states and rentier economies took place only recently. Development of rentierism posted on march, 2014 by john dudovskiy rentier state theory is a political economy theory that seeks to explain state society relations in states that generate a large proportion of their income from rents, or externallyderived, unproductivelyearned payments gray, 2011, p. The rentier state theory revisited nishad sanzagiri. Rent seeking and regime stability in rentier states. A person who makes most or all of hisher income from the rental or property. When people are not taxed by the government, the argument goes, they have less incentive to make the government accountable. Development of rentierism posted on march, 2014 by john dudovskiy rentier state theory is a political economy theory that seeks to explain statesociety relations in states that generate a large proportion of their income from rents, or externally. It also tends to breed unaccountability since if a state can fund itself via natural resource rents then it does not need to bother developing a fiscal system to tax people. Fourfold characteristics of rentier states are defined as1. Rentier definition, a person who has a fixed income, as from lands or bonds. In economy, rent is defined as earnings originating directly from selling natural. In political science and international relations theory, a rentier state is a state which derives all or a substantial portion of its national revenues from the rent of indigenous resources to external clients. This is a fact of paramount importance, cutting across the whole of the social fabric of the economy affecting the role. A theoretical construct developed by hazem beblawi and giacomo luciani, which categorizes some countries in terms of their disproportionate reliance upon one or several inherited sources of rents, such as mineral resources, notably oil and gas.
Reverberating through this book, with all its concrete, factual information about past and current economic conditions, is the. Rentier state law and legal definition uslegal, inc. In a celebrated passage, adam smith distinguished between. Rentier state meaning rentier state definition rentier stat. Examples of rentier states include oil producing countries in the middle east region including saudi arabia, united arab emirates, iraq, iran, kuwait and qatar as well as states such as venezuela and libya in latin america and north africa, all of whom are members of opec. The financial oligarchy of the rentier state appropriates a considerable portion of the national income of debtor states in the form of profits interest and dividends from direct. In only two of the rentier states, namely bahrain and libya, has there been a widespread uprising.
Mar 27, 2014 in clientelist rentier states, rent generation suffers from these short time horizons, and both rent generation and distribution are oriented towards providing benefits to clientelist networks. The rentier character and structure of the iranian state reflects the domination of the economy by the. A rentier state and rentier economy contributes to a rentier mentality, which adversely affects a countrys economy and longterm prospects. Pdf this article aims to analyze the implications of the arab uprisings on the rentier state theory rst. Is rentier state theory sufficient to explain the politics of. In current politicalscience and internationalrelations theory, a rentier state is a state which derives all or a substantial portion of its national revenues from the rent of indigenous resources to external clients. Rentiers definition of rentiers by the free dictionary.
The rentier state is a state of parasitic, decaying capitalism v. It provides enormous wealth and means of patronage to the rentier state and its joint venture partners, the transnational oil companies. Jun 07, 2011 following up on my rentier post and the eurocentric followup, a question. The rentier class may be particularly susceptible to bouts of high inflation. This article highlights the potential of the rentier state concept for general ir theory by making special reference to the arab middle. Rentier states article about rentier states by the free. For example, it may provide free or inexpensive health care using its excess money. Croom helm and the istituto affari internazionali, 1987. Rentier state article about rentier state by the free. From rentier economy to rentier mentality in the arab world.
This is a detailed study of the political and economic condition of the republic of gabon, focusing on the years of the oil boom 19751985. It is independent from its society, unaccountable to its citizens, and autocratic. A dictionary of business and management in the middle east and north africa authors. Rentier state theory and the arab uprisings 77 states were defined through three key characteristics.
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