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Revolving door lobbyists

Author

Listed:
  • Blanes i Vidal, Jordi
  • Draca, Mirko
  • Fons-Rosen, Christian

Abstract

Washington's 'revolving door' - the movement from government service into the lobbying industry - is regarded as a major concern for policy-making. We study how ex-government staffers benefit from the personal connections acquired during their public service. Lobbyists with experience in the office of a US Senator suffer a 24% drop in generated revenue when that Senator leaves office. The effect is immediate, discontinuous around the exit period and long-lasting. Consistent with the notion that lobbyists sell access to powerful politicians, the drop in revenue is increasing in the seniority of and committee assignments power held by the exiting politician.

Suggested Citation

  • Blanes i Vidal, Jordi & Draca, Mirko & Fons-Rosen, Christian, 2010. "Revolving door lobbyists," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 31546, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    • Handle: RePEc:ehl:lserod:31546
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    File URL: http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/31546/
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Lobbying; revolving door; US Congress; political connections; political elites;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H11 - Public Economics - - Structure and Scope of Government - - - Structure and Scope of Government
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
    • J45 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Particular Labor Markets - - - Public Sector Labor Markets

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