Astroturf: Interest Group Lobbying and Corporate Strategy
@article{Lyon2004AstroturfIG, title={Astroturf: Interest Group Lobbying and Corporate Strategy}, author={Thomas P. Lyon and John W. Maxwell}, journal={Wiley-Blackwell: Journal of Economics \& Management Strategy}, year={2004} }
We study three corporate nonmarket strategies designed to influence the lobbying behavior of other special interest groups: (1) astroturf, in which the firm covertly subsidizes a group with similiar views to lobby when it normally would not; (2) the bear hug, in which the firm overtly pays a group to alter its lobbying activitives; and (3) self-regulation, in which the firm voluntarily limits the potential social harm from its activities. All three strategies reduce the informativeness of…
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