Rentier state

June 06, 2017 12:05 am | Updated 12:40 am IST

 

Political Science

A government that derives its revenues predominantly from the sale of valuable resources it owns to clients in other countries. The idea was first proposed by Iranian economist Hossein Mahdavy in 1970. Saudi Arabia’s government, which earns almost all revenue by selling its oil to the rest of the world, is a good example of a rentier state. Some social scientists have argued that rentier states are unlikely to be accountable to their citizens as they are not dependent on tax revenues for their survival. This can lead them to be more tyrannical than other governments.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.