Business Associations, Lobbying, and Endogenous Institutions
CentER Discussion Paper No. 2014-071
40 Pages Posted: 28 Nov 2014
Date Written: November 21, 2014
Abstract
Are business associations - private, formal, nonprofit organizations designed to promote the common interests of their members - positive or negative for the economy and overall welfare? Scholars from institutional and organizational economics, on the one side, and from industrial organization, law & economics, and public choice, on the other side, have given different answers to this question, which is instrumental for policy making. We construct a model that endogenizes association membership of firms and the main functions of associations, which can have positive or negative spillovers on the economy. We derive predictions regarding associations’ functions and their net welfare effects, depending on the level of property rights securitization, which are in line with empirical observations.
Keywords: Business Associations, Trade Associations, Professional Organizations, Guilds, Lobbying, Private Ordering, Endogeneous Institutions, Quality of Legal Institutions
JEL Classification: D02, D62, D71, D72, L44
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation