IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/hig/wpaper/24-ec-2013.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

The choice of lobbying strategy: direct contacts with officials or mediation via business associations

Author

Listed:
  • Andrei Govorun

    (National Research University Higher School of Economics. Institute for Industrial and Market Studies.)

Abstract

The influence of lobbying activity on economic growth and welfare is widely observed in the literature. Many scholars consider lobbying as a sort of rent-seeking and blame it for non-optimal redistribution of assets, additional costs for firms, and resource reallocation from productive activities to lobbying activities. Lobbying may result in policies and regulations that benefit a small range of firms at the cost of others. Yet some scholars argue that under some conditions lobbying may benefit society, or at least result in second-best optimality. The total outcome of lobbying should depend on how it proceeds. Although the literature on lobbying is vast and multifaceted, many studies investigate how firms choose among different lobbying strategies. This study contributes to the literature by investigating how Russian firms choose ways of lobbying. The results of the study are based on a 1000-firm survey conducted by the Higher School of Economics and the Levada Center. The study investigates channels of lobbying mentioned by the respondents and focuses on the two most common channels, which are having direct contacts with officials and collective lobbying through business associations. The findings of the study are as follows. First, the data show that these lobbying channels are more likely to be complements. Second, a comparison of the effectiveness of different channels shows that the most common ways of lobbying are also the most effective. Moreover, the effectiveness of associations and personal contacts turned out to be statistically similar. Firms that have personal connections use direct personal contacts more often. But those who have problems with access to state officials tend to use business associations. Finally, the data show that those firms that interact with officials experience a higher risk of being captured by them

Suggested Citation

  • Andrei Govorun, 2013. "The choice of lobbying strategy: direct contacts with officials or mediation via business associations," HSE Working papers WP BRP 24/EC/2013, National Research University Higher School of Economics.
  • Handle: RePEc:hig:wpaper:24/ec/2013
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.hse.ru/data/2014/01/13/1340836571/24EC2013.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Campante, Filipe R. & Ferreira, Francisco H.G., 2007. "Inefficient lobbying, populism and oligarchy," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 91(5-6), pages 993-1021, June.
    2. Nauro Campos & Francesco Giovannoni, 2007. "Lobbying, corruption and political influence," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 131(1), pages 1-21, April.
    3. Grossman, Gene M & Helpman, Elhanan, 1994. "Protection for Sale," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 84(4), pages 833-850, September.
    4. Mohtadi, Hamid & Roe, Terry, 1998. "Growth, lobbying and public goods," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 14(3), pages 453-473, August.
    5. Bennedsen, Morten & Feldmann, Sven E., 2006. "Informational lobbying and political contributions," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 90(4-5), pages 631-656, May.
    6. Nauro F. Campos & Francesco Giovannoni, 2008. "Lobbying, Corruption and Other Banes," William Davidson Institute Working Papers Series wp930, William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan.
    7. Sun, Guang-Zhen & Ng, Yew-Kwang, 1999. "The Effect of Number and Size of Interest Groups on Social Rent Dissipation," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 101(3-4), pages 251-265, December.
    8. Morten Bennedsen & Sven E. Feldmann & David Dreyer Lassen, 2009. "Strong Firms Lobby, Weak Firms Bribe: A survey-based analysis of the demand for influence and corruption," EPRU Working Paper Series 2009-08, Economic Policy Research Unit (EPRU), University of Copenhagen. Department of Economics.
    9. Bhagwati, Jagdish N., 1980. "Lobbying and welfare," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 14(3), pages 355-363, December.
    10. Timothy Frye, 2002. "Capture or Exchange? Business Lobbying in Russia," Europe-Asia Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 54(7), pages 1017-1036.
    11. Richard Damania & Per Fredriksson & Muthukumara Mani, 2004. "The Persistence of Corruption and Regulatory Compliance Failures: Theory and Evidence," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 121(3), pages 363-390, February.
    12. Leonid Polishchuk & Alexei Savvateev, 2004. "Spontaneous (non)emergence of property rights," The Economics of Transition, The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, vol. 12(1), pages 103-127, March.
    13. William Pyle, 2011. "Organized Business, Political Competition, and Property Rights: Evidence from the Russian Federation," The Journal of Law, Economics, and Organization, Oxford University Press, vol. 27(1), pages 2-31.
    14. Austen-Smith, David, 1995. "Campaign Contributions and Access," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 89(3), pages 566-581, September.
    15. Lagerlof, Johan, 1997. "Lobbying, information, and private and social welfare," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 13(3), pages 615-637, September.
    16. Jeffrey B. Nugent & Grigor. Sukiassyan, 2009. "Alternative Strategies For Firms In Oppressive And Corrupt States: Informality Or Formality Via Business Associations?," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 27(4), pages 423-439, October.
    17. Berry, S Keith, 1993. "Rent-Seeking with Multiple Winners," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 77(2), pages 437-443, October.
    18. Andrei Yakovlev, 2006. "The evolution of business – state interaction in Russia: From state capture to business capture?," Europe-Asia Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 58(7), pages 1033-1056.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Abbas Khandan, 2022. "Externalities in the rent-seeking strategies of lobbying and bribery," Public Sector Economics, Institute of Public Finance, vol. 46(3), pages 421-450.

    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. Martin Gregor, 2011. "Corporate lobbying: A review of the recent literature," Working Papers IES 2011/32, Charles University Prague, Faculty of Social Sciences, Institute of Economic Studies, revised Nov 2011.
    2. Nauro F. Campos & Francesco Giovannoni, 2008. "Lobbying, Corruption and Other Banes," William Davidson Institute Working Papers Series wp930, William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan.
    3. Roy Cerqueti & Raffaella Coppier & Gustavo Piga, 2021. "Bribes, Lobbying and Industrial Structure," Italian Economic Journal: A Continuation of Rivista Italiana degli Economisti and Giornale degli Economisti, Springer;Società Italiana degli Economisti (Italian Economic Association), vol. 7(3), pages 439-460, November.
    4. Nauro Campos & Francesco Giovannoni, 2007. "Lobbying, corruption and political influence," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 131(1), pages 1-21, April.
    5. Kiselev, Eugene, 2013. "Lobbying, Corruption, and Regulatory Constraints: An Analysis of Eastern European Business Associations," MPRA Paper 51936, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    6. William Pyle & Laura Solanko, 2013. "The composition and interests of Russia’s business lobbies: testing Olson’s hypothesis of the “encompassing organization”," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 155(1), pages 19-41, April.
    7. Francesco Giovannoni, 2011. "Lobbying versus Corruption," ifo DICE Report, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, vol. 9(1), pages 12-16, 05.
    8. Cotton, Christopher, 2012. "Pay-to-play politics: Informational lobbying and contribution limits when money buys access," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 96(3), pages 369-386.
    9. Matthias Dahm & Robert Dur & Amihai Glazer, 2009. "Lobbying of Firms by Voters," Working Papers 080926, University of California-Irvine, Department of Economics.
    10. Cotton, Christopher, 2015. "Competing for Attention," MPRA Paper 65715, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    11. Cotton, Christopher, 2009. "Should we tax or cap political contributions? A lobbying model with policy favors and access," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 93(7-8), pages 831-842, August.
    12. Cotton, Christopher, 2007. "Informational Lobbying and Competition for Access," MPRA Paper 1842, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    13. Groll, Thomas & Ellis, Christopher J., 2014. "A simple model of the commercial lobbying industry," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 299-316.
    14. Thomas Groll & Christopher J. Ellis, 2017. "Repeated Lobbying By Commercial Lobbyists And Special Interests," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 55(4), pages 1868-1897, October.
    15. Hayley H. Chouinard & Gregmar I. Galinato & Philip R. Wandschneider, 2016. "Making Friends To Influence Others: Entry And Contribution Decisions That Affect Social Capital In An Association," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 54(2), pages 819-834, April.
    16. Arnaud Dellis & Mandar Oak, 2016. "Overlobbying and Pareto-improving Agenda Constraint," School of Economics and Public Policy Working Papers 2016-05, University of Adelaide, School of Economics and Public Policy.
    17. Christopher S. Cotton & Arnaud Déllis, 2016. "Informational Lobbying and Agenda Distortion," The Journal of Law, Economics, and Organization, Oxford University Press, vol. 32(4), pages 762-793.
    18. Gael Lagadec, 2014. "Are political support-driven policies always bad? The case of large interest groups," European Journal of Government and Economics, Europa Grande, vol. 3(2), pages 138-147, December.
    19. Omer Gokcekus & Sertac Sonan, 2017. "Political contributions and corruption in the United States," Journal of Economic Policy Reform, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 20(4), pages 360-372, October.
    20. Amrita Kamalini Bhattacharyya & Vivekananda Mukherjee, 2019. "Lobbying and Bribery," Studies in Microeconomics, , vol. 7(2), pages 238-251, December.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    lobbying; corruption; business associations; imperfect institutions.;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D72 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Political Processes: Rent-seeking, Lobbying, Elections, Legislatures, and Voting Behavior
    • D73 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Bureaucracy; Administrative Processes in Public Organizations; Corruption
    • O43 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Growth and Aggregate Productivity - - - Institutions and Growth

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    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:hig:wpaper:24/ec/2013. 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: Shamil Abdulaev or Shamil Abdulaev (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/hsecoru.html .

    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.