ABSTRACT

Corporate lobbyists play a vital role in the Corporate Political Activity process. They act as a mediator between corporations and politicians when firms engage in lobbying activities. Firms value professional lobbyists for their connections in Washington and their knowledge of the political process. While previous Corporate Political Activity research on lobbying has focused primarily on the amount of money firms spend on lobbying, including antecedents of lobbying and outcomes, very little research has examined lobbyists’ individual differences and how those influence important outcomes. In this paper, we examine how lobbyists’ specialization and experience as both a lobbyist and a former politician can influence the number of bills lobbied on passed into law. Using a sample of corporate lobbyists who were hired by S&P 500 firms, we look at 8,630 lobbyist’s careers from 2005–2016. We find that lobbyists lower in specialization are more likely to lobby on bills which are eventually passed into law than highly specialized lobbyists. We also find that social capital moderates the relationship between specialization and lobbying effectiveness. These results suggest that while corporate political activity spending is important, both scholars and firms should also understand who firms are hiring to lobby for them and how differences in lobbyist specialization might influence firm effectiveness in the nonmarket arena.

摘要

企业游说者在企业政治活动过程中发挥着至关重要的作用。当公司进行游说活动时，他们充当公司和政客之间的调解人。公司重视专业游说者在华盛顿的人脉以及他们对政治进程的了解。虽然之前关于游说的企业政治活动研究主要关注公司在游说上花费的金额，包括游说的前因和结果，但很少有研究检查游说者的个体差异以及这些差异如何影响重要结果。在本文中，我们研究了说客的专业化和作为说客和前政治家的经验如何影响被游说通过成为法律的法案的数量。使用标准普尔 500 指数公司雇用的公司说客样本，我们查看了 2005 年至 2016 年 8,630 名说客的职业生涯。我们发现，与高度专业化的说客相比，专业化程度较低的说客更有可能就最终通过成为法律的法案进行游说。我们还发现，社会资本调节专业化和游说有效性之间的关系。这些结果表明，虽然公司政治活动支出很重要，但学者和公司都应该了解公司正在雇用谁为他们游说，以及说客专业化的差异如何影响公司在非市场领域的效率。我们还发现，社会资本调节专业化和游说有效性之间的关系。这些结果表明，虽然公司政治活动支出很重要，但学者和公司都应该了解公司正在雇用谁为他们游说，以及说客专业化的差异如何影响公司在非市场领域的效率。我们还发现，社会资本调节专业化和游说有效性之间的关系。这些结果表明，虽然公司政治活动支出很重要，但学者和公司都应该了解公司正在雇用谁为他们游说，以及说客专业化的差异如何影响公司在非市场领域的效率。