Politically Connected Firms: Trade, Competition and Rent‐Seeking

This paper examines how companies respond to global economic shocks by seeking political connections. Using company‐level data, the study explores how exposure to increased trade competition—specifically, rising Chinese imports—affects U.S. firms' lobbying strategies. The findings reveal that companies facing greater economic pressures are more likely to hire politically connected lobbyists, particularly in industries more exposed to trade. These findings indicate that, during periods of economic instability, firms actively pursue political influence as a strategy to manage uncertainty and safeguard their interests.

• Publication year

  2025

• Venue

  Governance. An International Journal of Policy, Administration and Institutions

• Publication date

  2025-05-03

• Fields of study

  Not labeled

• Identifiers
  DOI 10.1111/gove.70024
• External record

  Open on Semantic Scholar

• Source metadata

  Semantic Scholar

• No claims are published for this paper.

• No concepts are published for this paper.

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