It&#x27;s an established name from economics.  The wikipedia definition is: &quot;seeking to increase one&#x27;s share of existing wealth without creating new wealth&quot;.  You can think of it as a generalization of seeking rent for a property.<p>For better or worse, that is what you are doing when you lease a property.  You want to be paid just for owning something, not for doing anything.<p>Analogously, if you provide service X, you can seek &quot;rent&quot; <i>in addition</i> to the value you provide.<p>One way to do this is by manipulating the market for X by reducing the supply of those who provide X, e.g. through an unnecessarily onerous licensing process.  The additional amount you make with the licensing process in place falls under the category of economic &quot;rent&quot;.<p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Rent-seeking" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Rent-seeking</a>