Advancing the Empirical Research on Lobbying

Authors

John M. de Figueiredo, Duke Law SchoolFollow
Brian Kelleher Richter

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2014

Keywords

lobbying, interest groups, empirical methods, empirical research, campaign contributions, special interest groups

Abstract

This essay identifies the empirical facts about lobbying which are generally agreed upon in the literature. It then discusses challenges to empirical research in lobbying and provides examples of empirical methods that can be employed to overcome these challenges—with an emphasis on statistical measurement, identification, and casual inference. The essay then discusses the advantages, disadvantages, and effective use of the main types of data available for research in lobbying. It closes by discussing a number of open questions for researchers in the field and avenues for future work to advance the empirical research in lobbying.

Comments

Author pre-print draft

Citation

John M. de Figueiredo & Brian Kelleher Richter, Advancing the Empirical Research on Lobbying, 17 Annual Review of Political Science 163-185 (2014)