Patronage

Free-market economy is an economic system with proven effectiveness in coordinating the efficient use of a society’s resources and promoting productive innovation but, like any human institution, it faces challenges that can hinder its proper operation and warp its results. An array of improper, and even illegal, behaviors divert the legitimate business goal of making profits toward a pursuit of profit that is disconnected from productive activity and focused on the exploitation of advantages and privileges. These practices include rent-seeking, clientelism, nepotism, cronyism, and—in extreme cases—corruption.