Empirical analysis of the economics of lobbying in European policy reforms (B10*)

• Subject Area: General Education and History of Education
• Term: from 2018 to 2021
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 139943784

The implementation of political reforms has been shifting from national governments to European institutions. The fragmentation of power among these institutions provides special interest groups with multiple opportunities for exerting political influence. Lobbying in Brussels is a pervasive phenomenon, but its economic and political consequences are not yet well understood. This project gathers data and develops econometric techniques for quantitatively assessing the private returns to lobbying, its implications on welfare and its impact on the political acceptance of EU reforms among the electorate. The application will focus on carbon trading, Europe’s flagship environmental policy instrument.

• DFG Programme: Collaborative Research Centres
• Subproject of: SFB 884: Political Economy of Reforms
• Applicant Institution: Universität Mannheim
• Project Head: Professor Dr. Ulrich J. Wagner