The financing of political campaigns is an area of active scholarly study. I review some of the
recent literature and discuss important methodological issues that arise in empirical …

Concern that donations to political campaigns secure preferential treatment from policy
makers has long occupied judges, scholars, and the public. However, the effects of …

I develop a method to measure the ideology of candidates and contributors using campaign
finance data. Combined with a data set of over 100 million contribution records from state …

Professional lobbyists are among the most experienced, knowledgeable, and strategic
actors one can find in the everyday practice of politics. Nonetheless, their behavioral …

I develop a statistical method to measure the ideology of candidates and political action
committees (PACs) using contribution data. The method recovers ideal points for …

This book presents the first large-scale study of lobbying strategies and outcomes in the
United States and the European Union, two of the most powerful political systems in the …

I examine whether stock ownership by politicians helps to enforce noncontractible quid pro
quo relations with firms. The ownership by US Congress members in firms contributing to …

There is a vast empirical literature on the allocation of corporate PAC contributions in
Congressional elections and the influence that these contributions have on the policy …

When members are elected to the House of Representatives they have a certain freedom to
decide how they will act as members and how they will build their reputations. Just as in the …

Although observers of Brazilian politics commonly hold that voters reward incumbents for"
bringing home the bacon," I provide reasons to question the direct link between pork and …