Doing More for Less? New Evidence on Lobbying and Government Contracts

Doing More for Less? New Evidence on Lobbying and Government Contracts

Author: Ms.Senay Agca

Publisher: International Monetary Fund

Published: 2019-08-09

Total Pages: 47

ISBN-13: 1513511246

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Why do firms lobby? This paper exploits the unanticipated sequestration of federal budget accounts in March 2013 that reduced the availability of government funds disbursed through procurement contracts to shed light on this question. Following this event, firms with little or no prior exposure to the federal accounts that experienced cuts reduced their lobbying spending. In contrast, firms with a high degree of exposure to the cuts maintained and even increased their lobbying spending. This suggests that, when the same number of contractors competed for a piece of a reduced pie, the more affected firms likely intensified their lobbying efforts to distinguish themselves from the others and improve their chances of procuring a larger share of the smaller overall. These findings are stronger in government-dependent sectors and when there is intense competition. The evidence is more consistent with a rent-seeking explanation for lobbying.


Book Synopsis Doing More for Less? New Evidence on Lobbying and Government Contracts by : Ms.Senay Agca

Download or read book Doing More for Less? New Evidence on Lobbying and Government Contracts written by Ms.Senay Agca and published by International Monetary Fund. This book was released on 2019-08-09 with total page 47 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Why do firms lobby? This paper exploits the unanticipated sequestration of federal budget accounts in March 2013 that reduced the availability of government funds disbursed through procurement contracts to shed light on this question. Following this event, firms with little or no prior exposure to the federal accounts that experienced cuts reduced their lobbying spending. In contrast, firms with a high degree of exposure to the cuts maintained and even increased their lobbying spending. This suggests that, when the same number of contractors competed for a piece of a reduced pie, the more affected firms likely intensified their lobbying efforts to distinguish themselves from the others and improve their chances of procuring a larger share of the smaller overall. These findings are stronger in government-dependent sectors and when there is intense competition. The evidence is more consistent with a rent-seeking explanation for lobbying.

Politically Robust Financial Regulation

Politically Robust Financial Regulation

Author: Mr.Itai Agur

Publisher: International Monetary Fund

Published: 2021-01-08

Total Pages: 31

ISBN-13: 1513566377

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The deferred recognition of COVID-induced losses at banks in many countries has reignited the debate on regulatory forbearance. This paper presents a model where the public's own political pressure drives regulatory policy astray, because the public is poorly informed. Using probabilistic game stages, the model parameterizes how time consistent policy is. The interaction between political motivations and time consistency is novel and complex: increased policy credibility can entice the politically-motivated regulator to act in the public's best interest, or instead repel it from doing so. Considering several regulatory instruments, the paper probes the nexus of political pressure, perverse bank incentives and time inconsistent policy.


Book Synopsis Politically Robust Financial Regulation by : Mr.Itai Agur

Download or read book Politically Robust Financial Regulation written by Mr.Itai Agur and published by International Monetary Fund. This book was released on 2021-01-08 with total page 31 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The deferred recognition of COVID-induced losses at banks in many countries has reignited the debate on regulatory forbearance. This paper presents a model where the public's own political pressure drives regulatory policy astray, because the public is poorly informed. Using probabilistic game stages, the model parameterizes how time consistent policy is. The interaction between political motivations and time consistency is novel and complex: increased policy credibility can entice the politically-motivated regulator to act in the public's best interest, or instead repel it from doing so. Considering several regulatory instruments, the paper probes the nexus of political pressure, perverse bank incentives and time inconsistent policy.

Interest Group Politics

Interest Group Politics

Author: Allan J. Cigler

Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield

Published: 2019-11-12

Total Pages: 323

ISBN-13: 1538124645

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Interest Group Politics is the only comprehensive collection of articles on interest groups and lobbying written for undergraduates. The tenth edition offers 15 new contributions on a variety of topics, including classic analyses of how groups organize and seek to affect public policy, emerging trends such as the growth of transgender groups, and fresh studies that examine how lobbying has evolved in the Trump era. No other text or reader provides the breath of coverage or the strength of detail in exploring the world of organized interests, from their internal structure to their electoral politics to their lobbying activities. The talented scholars in this edition, like those in previous volumes, continue to seek answers to a host of questions as to how groups evolve, how they compete with similar groups, how they influence elections, and how they lobby—across a wide range of issues.


Book Synopsis Interest Group Politics by : Allan J. Cigler

Download or read book Interest Group Politics written by Allan J. Cigler and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2019-11-12 with total page 323 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Interest Group Politics is the only comprehensive collection of articles on interest groups and lobbying written for undergraduates. The tenth edition offers 15 new contributions on a variety of topics, including classic analyses of how groups organize and seek to affect public policy, emerging trends such as the growth of transgender groups, and fresh studies that examine how lobbying has evolved in the Trump era. No other text or reader provides the breath of coverage or the strength of detail in exploring the world of organized interests, from their internal structure to their electoral politics to their lobbying activities. The talented scholars in this edition, like those in previous volumes, continue to seek answers to a host of questions as to how groups evolve, how they compete with similar groups, how they influence elections, and how they lobby—across a wide range of issues.

Economic Growth, Inequality and Crony Capitalism

Economic Growth, Inequality and Crony Capitalism

Author: Danilo Rocha Limoeiro

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2020-06-04

Total Pages: 223

ISBN-13: 100008860X

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Researchers in international development have long argued that the high costs of doing business harms prosperity in developing countries, a claim that invites the question of why governments impose these costs and why societies fail to enact reforms reducing them. This book seeks to answer the question by looking at the case of Brazil, a large and highly unequal economy riddled with state-imposed transaction costs. By delving into the political dynamics underlying a costly business environment, this book provides the reader with novel insights into crony capitalism and inequality. It argues that the root cause of a costly business environment is the collusion between political actors, bureaucrats and business insiders. Politicians and bureaucrats relish their discretion over rules and policies as a power resource, since they can increase or decrease the costs of doing business faced by firms and sectors. Business insiders collude with government agents to access the loopholes that decrease the cost of doing business, thus gaining a competitive edge over outsiders. This gives the insiders weaker preferences for reforms that could decrease the overall cost of doing business. By pursuing their self-interest, these actors create a low-level equilibrium that perpetuates crony capitalism and inequality to the detriment of overall prosperity. The book makes its case with a sophisticated combination of formal modeling, quantitative analyses and in-depth case studies of tax policy and of the pharmaceutical and agricultural sectors in Brazil. Observers have declared the need for reforms that improve the business environment in developing countries for a long time. However, the findings presented in this book suggest they might have underestimated the challenge ahead. Scholars and policy-makers in international development, business politics and political economy will be interested in the innovative perspective of this book.


Book Synopsis Economic Growth, Inequality and Crony Capitalism by : Danilo Rocha Limoeiro

Download or read book Economic Growth, Inequality and Crony Capitalism written by Danilo Rocha Limoeiro and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2020-06-04 with total page 223 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Researchers in international development have long argued that the high costs of doing business harms prosperity in developing countries, a claim that invites the question of why governments impose these costs and why societies fail to enact reforms reducing them. This book seeks to answer the question by looking at the case of Brazil, a large and highly unequal economy riddled with state-imposed transaction costs. By delving into the political dynamics underlying a costly business environment, this book provides the reader with novel insights into crony capitalism and inequality. It argues that the root cause of a costly business environment is the collusion between political actors, bureaucrats and business insiders. Politicians and bureaucrats relish their discretion over rules and policies as a power resource, since they can increase or decrease the costs of doing business faced by firms and sectors. Business insiders collude with government agents to access the loopholes that decrease the cost of doing business, thus gaining a competitive edge over outsiders. This gives the insiders weaker preferences for reforms that could decrease the overall cost of doing business. By pursuing their self-interest, these actors create a low-level equilibrium that perpetuates crony capitalism and inequality to the detriment of overall prosperity. The book makes its case with a sophisticated combination of formal modeling, quantitative analyses and in-depth case studies of tax policy and of the pharmaceutical and agricultural sectors in Brazil. Observers have declared the need for reforms that improve the business environment in developing countries for a long time. However, the findings presented in this book suggest they might have underestimated the challenge ahead. Scholars and policy-makers in international development, business politics and political economy will be interested in the innovative perspective of this book.

The Business of America is Lobbying

The Business of America is Lobbying

Author: Lee Drutman

Publisher:

Published: 2015

Total Pages: 285

ISBN-13: 0190215518

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Corporate lobbyists are everywhere in Washington. Of the 100 organizations that spend the most on lobbying, 95 represent business. The largest companies now have upwards of 100 lobbyists representing them. How did American businesses become so invested in politics? And what does all their money buy? Drawing on extensive data and original interviews with corporate lobbyists, The Business of America is Lobbying provides a fascinating and detailed picture of what corporations do in Washington, why they do it, and why it matters. Prior to the 1970s, very few corporations had Washington offices. But a wave of new government regulations and declining economic conditions mobilized business leaders. Companies developed new political capacities, and managers soon began to see public policy as an opportunity, not just a threat. Ever since, corporate lobbying has become increasingly more pervasive, more proactive, and more particularistic. Lee Drutman argues that lobbyists drove this development, helping managers to see why politics mattered, and how proactive and aggressive engagement could help companies' bottom lines. All this lobbying doesn't guarantee influence. Politics is a messy and unpredictable bazaar, and it is more competitive than ever. But the growth of lobbying has driven several important changes that make business more powerful. The status quo is harder to dislodge; policy is more complex; and, as Congress increasingly becomes a farm league for K Street, more and more of Washington's policy expertise now resides in the private sector. These and other changes increasingly raise the costs of effective lobbying to a level only businesses can typically afford. Lively and engaging, rigorous and nuanced, The Business of America is Lobbying will change how we think about lobbying-and how we might reform it.


Book Synopsis The Business of America is Lobbying by : Lee Drutman

Download or read book The Business of America is Lobbying written by Lee Drutman and published by . This book was released on 2015 with total page 285 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Corporate lobbyists are everywhere in Washington. Of the 100 organizations that spend the most on lobbying, 95 represent business. The largest companies now have upwards of 100 lobbyists representing them. How did American businesses become so invested in politics? And what does all their money buy? Drawing on extensive data and original interviews with corporate lobbyists, The Business of America is Lobbying provides a fascinating and detailed picture of what corporations do in Washington, why they do it, and why it matters. Prior to the 1970s, very few corporations had Washington offices. But a wave of new government regulations and declining economic conditions mobilized business leaders. Companies developed new political capacities, and managers soon began to see public policy as an opportunity, not just a threat. Ever since, corporate lobbying has become increasingly more pervasive, more proactive, and more particularistic. Lee Drutman argues that lobbyists drove this development, helping managers to see why politics mattered, and how proactive and aggressive engagement could help companies' bottom lines. All this lobbying doesn't guarantee influence. Politics is a messy and unpredictable bazaar, and it is more competitive than ever. But the growth of lobbying has driven several important changes that make business more powerful. The status quo is harder to dislodge; policy is more complex; and, as Congress increasingly becomes a farm league for K Street, more and more of Washington's policy expertise now resides in the private sector. These and other changes increasingly raise the costs of effective lobbying to a level only businesses can typically afford. Lively and engaging, rigorous and nuanced, The Business of America is Lobbying will change how we think about lobbying-and how we might reform it.

The Washington Lobby

The Washington Lobby

Author: Congressional Quarterly, inc

Publisher:

Published: 1979

Total Pages: 236

ISBN-13:

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Book Synopsis The Washington Lobby by : Congressional Quarterly, inc

Download or read book The Washington Lobby written by Congressional Quarterly, inc and published by . This book was released on 1979 with total page 236 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Public Administration and Public Affairs

Public Administration and Public Affairs

Author: Nicholas Henry

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2015-07-14

Total Pages: 497

ISBN-13: 1317344995

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Updated in its 12th edition, Public Administration and Public Affairs shows readers how to govern efficiently, effectively, and responsibly in an age of political corruption and crises in public finance. With a continuing and corroding crisis occurring, as well as greater governance by nonprofit organizations and private contractors, it is vital that readers are given the skills and tools to lead in such an environment. Using easy-to-understand metaphors and an accessible writing style, Public Administration and Public Affairs shows its readers how to govern better, preparing them for a career in public administration.


Book Synopsis Public Administration and Public Affairs by : Nicholas Henry

Download or read book Public Administration and Public Affairs written by Nicholas Henry and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2015-07-14 with total page 497 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Updated in its 12th edition, Public Administration and Public Affairs shows readers how to govern efficiently, effectively, and responsibly in an age of political corruption and crises in public finance. With a continuing and corroding crisis occurring, as well as greater governance by nonprofit organizations and private contractors, it is vital that readers are given the skills and tools to lead in such an environment. Using easy-to-understand metaphors and an accessible writing style, Public Administration and Public Affairs shows its readers how to govern better, preparing them for a career in public administration.

Revolving Door Lobbying

Revolving Door Lobbying

Author: Timothy LaPira

Publisher: University Press of Kansas

Published: 2017-06-23

Total Pages: 272

ISBN-13: 0700624503

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In recent decades Washington has seen an alarming rise in the number of "revolving door lobbyists"—politicians and officials cashing in on their government experience to become influence peddlers on K Street. These lobbyists, popular wisdom suggests, sell access to the highest bidder. Revolving Door Lobbying tells a different, more nuanced story. As an insider interviewed in the book observes, where the general public has the "impression that lobbyists actually get things done, I would say 90 percent of what lobbyists do is prevent harm to their client from the government." Drawing on extensive new data on lobbyists’ biographies and interviews with dozens of experts, authors Timothy M. LaPira and Herschel F. Thomas establish the facts of the revolving door phenomenon—facts that suggest that, contrary to widespread assumptions about insider access, special interests hire these lobbyists as political insurance against an increasingly dysfunctional, unpredictable government. With their insider experience, revolving door lobbyists offer insight into the political process, irrespective of their connections to current policymakers. What they provide to their clients is useful and marketable political risk-reduction. Exploring this claim, LaPira and Thomas present a systematic analysis of who revolving door lobbyists are, how they differ from other lobbyists, what interests they represent, and how they seek to influence public policy. The first book to marshal comprehensive evidence of revolving door lobbying, LaPira and Thomas revise the notion that lobbyists are inherently and institutionally corrupt. Rather, the authors draw a complex and sobering picture of the revolving door as a consequence of the eroding capacity of government to solve the public’s problems.


Book Synopsis Revolving Door Lobbying by : Timothy LaPira

Download or read book Revolving Door Lobbying written by Timothy LaPira and published by University Press of Kansas. This book was released on 2017-06-23 with total page 272 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In recent decades Washington has seen an alarming rise in the number of "revolving door lobbyists"—politicians and officials cashing in on their government experience to become influence peddlers on K Street. These lobbyists, popular wisdom suggests, sell access to the highest bidder. Revolving Door Lobbying tells a different, more nuanced story. As an insider interviewed in the book observes, where the general public has the "impression that lobbyists actually get things done, I would say 90 percent of what lobbyists do is prevent harm to their client from the government." Drawing on extensive new data on lobbyists’ biographies and interviews with dozens of experts, authors Timothy M. LaPira and Herschel F. Thomas establish the facts of the revolving door phenomenon—facts that suggest that, contrary to widespread assumptions about insider access, special interests hire these lobbyists as political insurance against an increasingly dysfunctional, unpredictable government. With their insider experience, revolving door lobbyists offer insight into the political process, irrespective of their connections to current policymakers. What they provide to their clients is useful and marketable political risk-reduction. Exploring this claim, LaPira and Thomas present a systematic analysis of who revolving door lobbyists are, how they differ from other lobbyists, what interests they represent, and how they seek to influence public policy. The first book to marshal comprehensive evidence of revolving door lobbying, LaPira and Thomas revise the notion that lobbyists are inherently and institutionally corrupt. Rather, the authors draw a complex and sobering picture of the revolving door as a consequence of the eroding capacity of government to solve the public’s problems.

A Fistful of Dollars

A Fistful of Dollars

Author: Mr.Thierry Tressel

Publisher: International Monetary Fund

Published: 2009-12-01

Total Pages: 72

ISBN-13: 1451874324

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Using detailed information on lobbying and mortgage lending activities, we find that lenders lobbying more on issues related to mortgage lending (i) had higher loan-to-income ratios, (ii) securitized more intensively, and (iii) had faster growing portfolios. Ex-post, delinquency rates are higher in areas where lobbyist' lending grew faster and they experienced negative abnormal stock returns during key crisis events. The findings are robust to (i) falsification tests using lobbying on issues unrelated to mortgage lending, (ii) a difference-in-difference approach based on state-level laws, and (iii) instrumental variables strategies. These results show that lobbying lenders engage in riskier lending.


Book Synopsis A Fistful of Dollars by : Mr.Thierry Tressel

Download or read book A Fistful of Dollars written by Mr.Thierry Tressel and published by International Monetary Fund. This book was released on 2009-12-01 with total page 72 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Using detailed information on lobbying and mortgage lending activities, we find that lenders lobbying more on issues related to mortgage lending (i) had higher loan-to-income ratios, (ii) securitized more intensively, and (iii) had faster growing portfolios. Ex-post, delinquency rates are higher in areas where lobbyist' lending grew faster and they experienced negative abnormal stock returns during key crisis events. The findings are robust to (i) falsification tests using lobbying on issues unrelated to mortgage lending, (ii) a difference-in-difference approach based on state-level laws, and (iii) instrumental variables strategies. These results show that lobbying lenders engage in riskier lending.

Getting the Government America Deserves

Getting the Government America Deserves

Author: Richard W. Painter

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2009

Total Pages: 324

ISBN-13: 0195378717

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This volume analyzes government ethics law from the perspective of an academic critic and that of a lawyer who was the chief White House ethics lawyer for two and a half years. Richard Painter argues that the existing ethics regime is in need of substantial reform.


Book Synopsis Getting the Government America Deserves by : Richard W. Painter

Download or read book Getting the Government America Deserves written by Richard W. Painter and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2009 with total page 324 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume analyzes government ethics law from the perspective of an academic critic and that of a lawyer who was the chief White House ethics lawyer for two and a half years. Richard Painter argues that the existing ethics regime is in need of substantial reform.