Do More Powerful Interest Groups Have a Disproportionate Influence on Policy?

Zara Sharif and Otto H. Swank ()
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Zara Sharif: Erasmus University Rotterdam
Otto H. Swank: Erasmus University Rotterdam

De Economist, 2019, vol. 167, issue 2, No 2, 127-143

Abstract: Abstract Decisions-makers often rely on information supplied by interested parties. In practice, some parties have easier access to information than other parties. In this light, we examine whether more powerful parties have a disproportionate influence on decisions. We show that more powerful parties influence decisions with higher probability when their stakes are sufficiently large. However, in expected terms, decisions do not depend on the relative strength of interested parties. When parties have not provided information, decisions are biased towards the less powerful parties. Finally, we show that compelling parties to supply information destroys incentives to collect information.

Keywords: Information collection; Communcation; Interest groups; Decision-making (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D72 D78 D82 H39 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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DOI: 10.1007/s10645-019-09338-w

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