Academic Earmarks and the Returns to Lobbying

John M. de Figueiredo, Brian S. Silverman

NBER Working Paper No. 9064
Issued in July 2002
NBER Program(s):   LE    PE

---- Abstract -----

Despite a large literature on lobbying and information transmission by interest groups, no prior study has measured returns to lobbying. In this paper, we statistically estimate the returns to lobbying by universities for educational earmarks (which now represent 10 percent of federal funding of university research). The returns to lobbying approximate zero for universities not represented by a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee (SAC) or House Appropriations Committee (HAC). However, the average lobbying university with representation on the SAC receives an average return to one dollar of lobbying of $11-$17; lobbying universities with representation on the HAC obtain $20-$36 for each dollar spent. Moreover, we cannot reject the hypothesis that lobbying universities with SAC or HAC representation set the marginal benefit of lobbying equal to its marginal cost, although the large majority of universities with representation on the HAC and SAC do not lobby, and thus do not take advantage of their representation in Congress. On average, 45 percent of universities are predicted to choose the optimal level of lobbying. In addition to addressing questions about the federal funding of university research, we also discuss the impact of our results for the structure of government.

Would you like an annual subscription to NBER Working Papers? Click here for more information.

You may purchase this paper on-line in .pdf format from SSRN.com ($5) for electronic delivery.
Information for subscribers and others expecting no-cost downloads

Machine-readable bibliographic record - MARC, RIS, BibTeX

 

 
Publications:
Main Publications Page
 
New This Week
Working Papers
Books              
Books in Progress
Older Books Online
Digest            
Reporter            
Bulletin on Aging & Health
Historical Bulletins
Free Subscriptions
Paid Subscriptions
 
Research:
Program descriptions and members
 
Working Group Descriptions and Papers
 
Selected Projects:
Conference on Research in Income and Wealth
Conference on Econometrics and Mathematical Economics
Sloan Science and Engineering Workforce Project
Boston Census Research Data Center
 
Call for Papers
Submit to WP Series             
 
Data:
NBER Collection
Business Cycle Dates
Latest Business Cycle Memo
New Economic Releases
Selected Sources
Current Population Survey
Economic Organizations
US Government Agencies
Other Data Collections

Economic Report of the President
Economic Indicators
Congressional Budget Office
OECD Frequently Requested Statistics
 
About
What is the NBER?
NBER Historical Archives
Non-data Links    
Search              
Help              
Contact us
Site Map
Employment              
Fellowships
 
People:
Staff
Researchers
Board
Contact Us
Search
 
Search via Google: