A recent study from the Center for Economic Performance at the London School of Economics has found “a significant relationship” between lobbyists’ salaries and their previous work experiences on Capitol Hill.

Using data from the Center for Responsive Politics, LegiStorm.com and Lobbyists.info, researchers Jordi Blanes i Vidal, Mirko Draca and Christian Fons-Rosen analyzed the employment histories and salaries of 1,100 politically connected federal lobbyists.

Their study concluded that these lobbyists experienced a “sizable drop in earnings when their old bosses left Congress.”

Overall, the researchers found that lobbyists’ earnings dropped by 24 percent upon the departure of one of their former employers in either the Senate or a senior position within the House.

This decline represents about $177,000 per year for the lobbyist — and the decrease in revenue persists for three years after the politicians exit, they observed.

“When a politician leaves, a lobbyist’s connection to that politician becomes obsolete,” said study co-author Draca. “The politician is no longer a potential target for lobbying.”

Measuring the significance of the “revolving door” between K Street and Capitol Hill is a difficult task. The study’s attempt to measure influence of the revolving door by examining earnings is the first of its kind.

“There is plenty of discussion of the idea that former staffers are able to ‘cash in’ on the connections that they gained from working in Congress,” Draca said. “But formal evidence on what these connections are worth in dollar terms is thin on the ground.”

“Lobbyists argue their earnings reflect expertise on policy issues generally,” co-author Vidal continued. “Our study tests whether former congressional staffers would be high-earners regardless of their privileged access to a powerful politician.”

With their analysis showing a correlation between salaries and political connections, the authors beg to differ with the assessment that lobbyists bring only skills to the table when earning hundreds of thousands of dollars.

“Our estimates can be interpreted as the price of accessing or influencing politicians,” Vidal said. “Access or influence can be systematically bought and sold. This means that if you have the money, you can hire a lobbyist with political connections and improve your chances of affecting policy.”

Last year, the Center for Responsive Politics put large amounts of the lobbying data on our website, OpenSecrets.org, as bulk files in a move to encourage the use of these data in “mash-ups” by researchers and citizens. LegiStorm, meanwhile, has been providing data on congressional salaries and making it available online since 2006.

The team at the Center for Economic Performance was able to merge these various data together and apply statistical analysis for their study.



For permission to reprint for commercial uses, such as textbooks, contact the Center: Feel free to distribute or cite this material, but please credit the Center for Responsive Politics.For permission to reprint for commercial uses, such as textbooks, contact the Center: [email protected]

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