IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/nbr/nberwo/7726.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

The Structure and Conduct of Corporate Lobbying: How Firms Lobby the Federal Communications Commission

Author

Listed:
  • John M. de Figueiredo
  • Emerson H. Tiller

Abstract

lobbying (internal organization vs. trade association) by firms in administrative agencies. It explores the power and limitations of the collective action theories and transaction cost theories in explaining lobbying. It introduces a dataset of over 900 lobbying contacts cover 101 issues at the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in early 1998. We find that the structure and conduct of large firm lobbying at the FCC is consistent with the predictions of theories of transaction costs and the main results of theories of collective action. However, large firms do not change their behavior drastically as structures arise to remedy the free rider problem. Small firms show no sensitivity to collective action issues or transaction cost issues in the organization or amount of their lobbying, but they do lobby less when having to reveal proprietary information. In sum, large firms behave largely consistent with theoretical predictions, while small firms do not.

Suggested Citation

  • John M. de Figueiredo & Emerson H. Tiller, 2000. "The Structure and Conduct of Corporate Lobbying: How Firms Lobby the Federal Communications Commission," NBER Working Papers 7726, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:7726
    Note: LE
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.nber.org/papers/w7726.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. David J. TEECE, 2008. "Profiting from technological innovation: Implications for integration, collaboration, licensing and public policy," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: The Transfer And Licensing Of Know-How And Intellectual Property Understanding the Multinational Enterprise in the Modern World, chapter 5, pages 67-87, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    2. Dana, James D, Jr & Spier, Kathryn E, 1993. "Expertise and Contingent Fees: The Role of Asymmetric Information in Attorney Compensation," The Journal of Law, Economics, and Organization, Oxford University Press, vol. 9(2), pages 349-367, October.
    3. Kroszner, Randall S & Stratmann, Thomas, 1998. "Interest-Group Competition and the Organization of Congress: Theory and Evidence from Financial Services' Political Action Committees," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 88(5), pages 1163-1187, December.
    4. Sandler, Todd & Tschirhart, John T, 1980. "The Economic Theory of Clubs: An Evaluative Survey," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 18(4), pages 1481-1521, December.
    5. Bendor, Jonathan & Mookherjee, Dilip, 1987. "Institutional Structure and the Logic of Ongoing Collective Action," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 81(1), pages 129-154, March.
    6. Oxley, Joanne E, 1997. "Appropriability Hazards and Governance in Strategic Alliances: A Transaction Cost Approach," The Journal of Law, Economics, and Organization, Oxford University Press, vol. 13(2), pages 387-409, October.
    7. Daniel F. Spulber, 1992. "Economic Analysis And Management Strategy: A Survey," Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 1(3), pages 535-574, September.
    8. Baron David P., 1999. "Integrated Market and Nonmarket Strategies in Client and Interest Group Politics," Business and Politics, De Gruyter, vol. 1(1), pages 7-34, December.
    9. Greenstein, Shane & McMaster, Susan & Spiller, Pablo T, 1995. "The Effect of Incentive Regulation on Infrastructure Modernization: Local Exchange Companies' Deployment of Digital Technology," Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 4(2), pages 187-236, Summer.
    10. David P. Baron, 1997. "Integrated Strategy and International Trade Disputes: The Kodak‐Fujifilm Case," Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 6(1), pages 291-346, June.
    11. Klein, Benjamin & Crawford, Robert G & Alchian, Armen A, 1978. "Vertical Integration, Appropriable Rents, and the Competitive Contracting Process," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 21(2), pages 297-326, October.
    12. Stratmann, Thomas, 1992. "Are Contributions Rational? Untangling Strategies of Political Action Committees," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 100(3), pages 647-664, June.
    13. Cameron, A. Colin & Trivedi, Pravin K., 1990. "Regression-based tests for overdispersion in the Poisson model," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 46(3), pages 347-364, December.
    14. William M. Dugger, 1996. "The Mechanisms of Governance," Journal of Economic Issues, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 30(4), pages 1212-1216, December.
    15. Baron, David P., 1999. "Integrated Market and Nonmarket Strategies in Client and Interest Group Politics," Business and Politics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 1(1), pages 7-34, April.
    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. Glen Dowell & Brad Killaly, 2009. "Effect of Resource Variation and Firm Experience on Market Entry Decisions: Evidence from U.S. Telecommunication Firms' International Expansion Decisions," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 20(1), pages 69-84, February.
    2. John M. de Figueiredo & Emerson H. Tiller, 2001. "The Structure and Conduct of Corporate Lobbying: How Firms Lobby the Federal Communications Commission," Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 10(1), pages 91-122, March.

    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. John M. de Figueiredo & Emerson H. Tiller, 2001. "The Structure and Conduct of Corporate Lobbying: How Firms Lobby the Federal Communications Commission," Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 10(1), pages 91-122, March.
    2. John M. de Figueiredo & James J. Kim, 2004. "When Do Firms Hire Lobbyists? The Organization of Lobbying at the Federal Communications Commission," NBER Working Papers 10553, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    3. de Figueiredo, John & Kim, James, 2004. "When Do Firms Hire Lobbyists? The Organization of Lobbying at the Federal Communications Commission," Working papers 4483-04, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Sloan School of Management.
    4. Argyres, Nicholas S. & Liebeskind, Julia Porter, 2002. "Governance inseparability and the evolution of US biotechnology industry," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 47(2), pages 197-219, February.
    5. Nickerson, Jack A. & Yen, C. James & Mahoney, Joseph T., 2011. "Exploring the Problem-Finding and Problem-Solving Approach for Designing Organizations," Working Papers 11-0107, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, College of Business.
    6. Kim, Jongwook & Mahoney, Joseph T., 2008. "A Strategic Theory of the Firm as a Nexus of Incomplete Contracts: A Property Rights Approach," Working Papers 08-0108, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, College of Business.
    7. Jean-François Hennart, 2020. "More than intent: A bundling model of MNE–SME interactions," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 51(7), pages 1176-1194, September.
    8. KANI Masayo & MOTOHASHI Kazuyuki, 2016. "Understanding External Technology Sourcing in New Product Development Projects: Bilateral vs. unilateral contracts," Discussion papers 16104, Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (RIETI).
    9. Nicolaï Foss & Nils Stieglitz, 2012. "Modern Resource-based Theory(ies)," Chapters, in: Michael Dietrich & Jackie Krafft (ed.), Handbook on the Economics and Theory of the Firm, chapter 20, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    10. Duplat, Valérie & Coeurderoy, Régis & Hagedoorn, John, 2018. "Contractual governance and the choice of dispute-resolution mechanisms: Evidence on technology licensing," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 47(6), pages 1096-1110.
    11. Gerwin, Donald, 2006. "Buyer-vendor relations for components: The extreme example of custom integrated circuits," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(5), pages 673-690, June.
    12. Mahoney, Joseph T., 2012. "Towards a Stakeholder Theory of Strategic Management," Working Papers 12-0100, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, College of Business.
    13. John M. de Figueiredo & Rui J.P. de Figueiredo, 2002. "The Allocation of Resources by Interest Groups: Lobbying, Litigation and Administrative Regulation," NBER Working Papers 8981, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    14. Nicholas S. Argyres & Janet Bercovitz & Kyle J. Mayer, 2007. "Complementarity and Evolution of Contractual Provisions: An Empirical Study of IT Services Contracts," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 18(1), pages 3-19, February.
    15. Desmond (Ho‐Fu) Lo & Giorgio Zanarone & Mrinal Ghosh, 2022. "Contracting to (dis)incentivize? An integrative transaction‐cost approach on how contracts govern specific investments," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 43(8), pages 1528-1555, August.
    16. Oxley, Joanne E., 1999. "Institutional environment and the mechanisms of governance: the impact of intellectual property protection on the structure of inter-firm alliances," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 38(3), pages 283-309, March.
    17. Kim, Jongwook & Mahoney, Joseph T., 2005. "Appropriating Economic Rents from Resources: An Integrative Property Rights and Resource-Based Approach," Working Papers 05-0123, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, College of Business.
    18. Achim Hecker, 2009. "Determinanten von Offshore-Outsourcing-Aktivitäten im deutschen Mittelstand," Schmalenbach Journal of Business Research, Springer, vol. 61(6), pages 628-653, September.
    19. M. Shyam Kumar, 2013. "Production knowledge and its impact on the mechanisms of governance," Journal of Management & Governance, Springer;Accademia Italiana di Economia Aziendale (AIDEA), vol. 17(2), pages 261-281, May.
    20. John M. de Figueiredo, 2009. "Integrated Political Strategy," NBER Working Papers 15053, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • K2 - Law and Economics - - Regulation and Business Law
    • L5 - Industrial Organization - - Regulation and Industrial Policy

    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:nbr:nberwo:7726. 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: the person in charge (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/nberrus.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.