War as Rent-Seeking: A Public Choice Perspective on the Pacific War

Historical literature on the causes of the Pacific War generally focuses on either international relationships between the great powers in the interwar period or on the role of domestic interest groups in Japan, especially the Imperial Army and Navy. An alternative to these predominantly narrative approaches is to consider Japanese imperialism as explained by the public choice concept of rent seeking. Seeing both imperial expansions through armed conquest and domestic interest group rivalry as forms of rent-seeking behavior can provide a unifying perspective for understanding the Pacific War.

Brian DolleryEmail:

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Zane A. Spindler,   born in 1941, has a Ph.D. in economics (Michigan State University, 1968) and has been a professor in the Department of Economics, Simon Fraser University, since 1967. His current research interests include constitutional foundations of economic freedom, central bank governance, and the evolution of land contests. His works have been published in the Canadian Journal of Economics, Constitutional Political Economy, Oxford Economic Papers, Public Choice, Public Organizational Review, and South African Journal of Economics. Brian E. Dollary,   born in 1952, has a Ph.D. in economics (Rhodes University, 1983) and has been a professor in the Department of Economics, University of New England since 1988. His current research interests include public service delivery, fiscal federalism, and public enterprise reform. His works have been published in Applied Economics, Australian Economic Papers, Public Administration Quarterly, Public Finance/Finance Publique, South African Journal of Economics, and World Development.