IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/envirc/v29y2011i5p783-801.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Corporate Political Strategizing in the European Union during the 2007–10 Recession: An Exploratory Study

Author

Listed:
  • Andrew Barron

    (Department of Management, Strathclyde Business School, University of Strathclyde, 199 Cathedral Street, Glasgow G4 0GQ, Scotland)

  • Peter Hultén

    (Hull Business School, The University of Hull, Cottingham Road, Hull HU1 7RX, England)

Abstract

Using original data collected from a survey of Brussels-based Government Affairs Managers (GAMs) in May and June 2010, we explore the political actions of firms in the European Union during the 2007–10 financial crisis. Findings suggest that the financial constraints imposed by the crisis had a significant impact on whether GAMs entered into short-term or long-term relationships with policy makers and whether they engaged in individual or collective action. Significant crosscountry differences were also observed between the political objectives pursued by firms, their propensity to engage in collective political action, and the tactics they use to influence policy makers. Taken together, these findings challenge institutional explanations of EU lobbying, which suggest that the EU system of policy making provides powerful incentives for firms to adopt specific lobbying behaviours in order to gain a seat at the EU policy-making table.

Suggested Citation

  • Andrew Barron & Peter Hultén, 2011. "Corporate Political Strategizing in the European Union during the 2007–10 Recession: An Exploratory Study," Environment and Planning C, , vol. 29(5), pages 783-801, October.
  • Handle: RePEc:sae:envirc:v:29:y:2011:i:5:p:783-801
    DOI: 10.1068/c10165b
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1068/c10165b
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1068/c10165b?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Jean‐Philippe Bonardi, 2004. "Global and political strategies in deregulated industries: the asymmetric behaviors of former monopolies," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 25(2), pages 101-120, February.
    2. Pieter Bouwen, 2004. "The Logic of Access to the European Parliament: Business Lobbying in the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 42(3), pages 473-495, September.
    3. repec:hal:wpspec:info:hdl:2441/8523 is not listed on IDEAS
    4. Cornelia Woll, 2006. "Lobbying in the European Union: From Sui Generis to a Comparative Perspective," Post-Print hal-01021182, HAL.
    5. John Peterson, 1991. "Technology Policy in Europe: Explaining the Framework Programme and Eureka in Theory and Practice," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(3), pages 269-290, March.
    6. Coen, David, 1998. "The European Business Interest and the Nation State: Large-firm Lobbying in the European Union and Member States," Journal of Public Policy, Cambridge University Press, vol. 18(1), pages 75-100, January.
    7. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/8523 is not listed on IDEAS
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Scott L. Greer & Elize Massard da Fonseca & Christopher Adolph, 2008. "Mobilizing Bias in Europe," European Union Politics, , vol. 9(3), pages 403-433, September.
    2. Gullberg, Anne Therese, 2008. "Lobbying friends and foes in climate policy: The case of business and environmental interest groups in the European Union," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(8), pages 2954-2962, August.
    3. Patrick Bernhagen & Neil J. Mitchell, 2009. "The Determinants of Direct Corporate Lobbying in the European Union," European Union Politics, , vol. 10(2), pages 155-176, June.
    4. Rainer Eising, 2007. "Institutional Context, Organizational Resources and Strategic Choices," European Union Politics, , vol. 8(3), pages 329-362, September.
    5. Åse Gornitzka & Ulf Sverdrup, 2015. "Societal Inclusion in Expert Venues: Participation of Interest Groups and Business in the European Commission Expert Groups," Politics and Governance, Cogitatio Press, vol. 3(1), pages 151-165.
    6. Arne Niemann, 2006. "Explaining visa, asylum and immigration policy Treaty revision: insights from a revised neofunctionalist framework," The Constitutionalism Web-Papers p0005, University of Hamburg, Faculty for Economics and Social Sciences, Department of Social Sciences, Institute of Political Science.
    7. Carole RENTSCH & Matthias FINGER, 2014. "Yes, no, maybe: the ambiguous relationships between State-owned enterprises and States," Departmental Working Papers 2014-05, Department of Economics, Management and Quantitative Methods at Università degli Studi di Milano.
    8. repec:rdg:wpaper:em-dp2007-43 is not listed on IDEAS
    9. Bonardi, Jean-Philippe & Urbiztondo, Santiago, 2013. "Asset freezing, corporate political resources and the Tullock paradox," Business and Politics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 15(3), pages 275-293, October.
    10. Pettus, Michael L. & Kor, Yasemin Y. & Mahoney, Joseph T., 2007. "A Theory of Change in Turbulent Environments: The Sequencing of Dynamic Capabilities Following Industry Deregulation," Working Papers 07-0100, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, College of Business.
    11. Rajneesh Narula & Grazia D. Santangelo, 2007. "Location and R&D Alliances in the European ICT Industry," DRUID Working Papers 07-05, DRUID, Copenhagen Business School, Department of Industrial Economics and Strategy/Aalborg University, Department of Business Studies.
    12. Luukkonen, Terttu, 1998. "The difficulties in assessing the impact of EU framework programmes," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 27(6), pages 599-610, September.
    13. Marcel Hanegraaff & Arlo Poletti, 2021. "The Rise of Corporate Lobbying in the European Union: An Agenda for Future Research," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 59(4), pages 839-855, July.
    14. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/8527 is not listed on IDEAS
    15. Kurczewska, Urszula, 2015. "Znaczenie konsultacji społecznych w formułowaniu polityki publicznej Unii Europejskiej," Studia z Polityki Publicznej / Public Policy Studies, Warsaw School of Economics, vol. 2(1), pages 1-18, February.
    16. Raj Chari & Daniel Hillebrand O'Donovan, 2011. "Lobbying the European Commission: Open or secret?," Working Papers 2011-11, Instituto Madrileño de Estudios Avanzados (IMDEA) Ciencias Sociales.
    17. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/8601 is not listed on IDEAS
    18. repec:spo:wpecon:info:hdl:2441/8523 is not listed on IDEAS
    19. Michaël Tatham & Mads Thau, 2014. "The more the merrier: Accounting for regional paradiplomats in Brussels," European Union Politics, , vol. 15(2), pages 255-276, June.
    20. Brian T. McCann & Mona Bahl, 2017. "The influence of competition from informal firms on new product development," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 38(7), pages 1518-1535, July.
    21. Joost Berkhout & David Lowery, 2010. "The changing demography of the EU interest system since 1990," European Union Politics, , vol. 11(3), pages 447-461, September.
    22. Deepak Somaya & Christine A. McDaniel, 2012. "Tribunal Specialization and Institutional Targeting in Patent Enforcement," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 23(3), pages 869-887, June.
    23. Alvaro CUERVO-CAZURRA & Luis Alfonso DAU, 2008. "Structural Reform And Firm Profitability In Developing Countries," William Davidson Institute Working Papers Series wp940, William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan.
    24. Dimitris Assimakopoulos, 2002. "IT Innovation within the Esprit and IST Programs. Some Evidence from the UK," Post-Print hal-00452340, HAL.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:envirc:v:29:y:2011:i:5:p:783-801. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.