"Milking Society"? : to what extent can the political realities surrounding the regulatory regime of the Norwegian dairy sector be captured and explained by the rentseeking model? Milking Society"?

Abstract

"Milking Society?" To what extent can the political realities surrounding the regulatory regime of the Norwegian dairy sector be captured and explained by the rent-seeking model This dissertation looks into the rent-seeking model and some of the assumptions upon which it is based. It is argued that these assumptions seem to be too simple for the model to adequately explain the Norwegian reality. The theoretical discussion is illustrated by empirical evidence from the regulatory regime of the dairy sector in Norway, analysed by means of multiple regression analysis. The main question attempted answered in the dissertation is: to what extent can the political realities surrounding the regulatory regime of the Norwegian dairy sector be captured and explained by the rent-seeking model? The first assumption to be looked at is that of the type of good which is offered by the suppliers of regulation, and the electoral system. It is argued that the extent of the regulations in the dairy sector seem to be a product of political consensus. The second assumptions is that of the nature of political parties. It is argued that political parties are not purely opportunistic and that the ideological views of the suppliers of regulation seem to be important in determining the way the privilege is being taken out by the producers. The third assumption of the rent-seeking model is that suppliers of regulation are unified actors. It is argued here that this is most often not the case in Norway, but these arguments are not entirely supported by the results of the regression analysis. The fourth assumption which is looked at is that of the nature of the demanders of regulation, their resources and the degree to which they are unified. It is argued that there will be different influences of these on the extent of the regulations which may be assumed to increase as the demanders are unified; and the type of regulation which may be assumed to be a result of which of the demanders have more resources available. This may also be assumed to be dependent upon the ideological views of the political parties.