Abstract
This paper empirically examines the influence of three legislator attributes on political action committee campaign contributions. In particular, the study investigates the roles that committee assignment, committee leadership, and majority party membership play on campaign contributions from political action committee representing firms from the four well-defined industries of aerospace, airline, automobile, and oil. The empirical results indicate that committee leadership is a key variable that drives contributions. However, membership on a seemingly relevant committee does not appear to carry as much weight. Furthermore, majority party membership appears to have a significant influence over the level of contributions. These patterns appear to be consistent over the eight election cycles studied.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Bennett, Randall; Loucks, Christine. "Savings and Loan and Finance Industry PAC Contributions to Incumbent Members of the House Banking Committee,"Public Choice, 79, 1994, pp. 83–104.
Chappell, Henry W. "Campaign Contributions and Congressional Voting: A Simultaneous PROBIT-TOBIT Model,"Review of Economics and Statistics, 64, 1982, pp. 77–83.
__. "Campaign Contributions and Voting on the Cargo Preference Bill,"Public Choice, 36, 1981, pp. 301–12.
Denzau, Arthur; Munger, Michael. "Legislators and Interest Groups: How Unorganized Interests Get Represented,"American Political Science Review, 1986, pp. 89–106.
Endersby, James; Munger, Michael. "The Impact of Legislator Attributes on Union PAC Campaign Contributions,"Journal of Labor Research, XIII, 1992, pp. 79–97.
Evans, Diana. "Oil PACs and Aggressive Contribution Strategies,"Journal of Politics, 50, 1988, pp. 1047–56.
Federal Election Commission.Campaign Expenditures in the United States: 1979–1994, Washington, DC: Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR), various years.
Godwin, R. Kenneth. "Investments in Rent-Seeking,"Public Choice, 64, 1990, pp. 291–7.
Gopoian, J. David. "What Makes PACs Tick? An Analysis of the Allocation Patterns of Economics Interest Groups,"American Journal of Political Science, 28, 1984, pp. 259–81.
Grenzke, Janet. "PACs and the Congressional Supermarket: The Currency Is Complex,"American Journal of Political Science, 33, 1989a, pp. 1–24.
__. "Candidate Attributes and PAC Contributions,"Western Political Quarterly, 42, 1989b, pp. 245–64.
Grier, Kevin; Munger, Michael. "Committee Assignments, Constituent Preferences, and Campaign Contributions,"Economic Inquiry, 29, 1991, pp. 24–43.
__. "The Impact of Legislator Attributes on Interest Group Campaign Contributions,"Economic Inquiry, 29, 1986, pp. 24–43.
Grier, Kevin; Munger, Michael; Torrent, Gary. "Allocation Patterns of PAC Monies: The U.S. Senate,"Public Choice, 67, 1990, pp. 111–28.
Hall, R. L.; Wayman, F. W. "Buying Time: Moneyed Interests and the Mobilization of Bias in Congressional Committees,"American Political Science Review, 84, 1990, pp. 797–820.
Keim, Gerald; Zardkoohi, Asghar. "Looking for Leverage in PAC Markets: Corporate and Labor Contributions Considered,"Public Choice, 58, 1988, pp. 21–34.
Langbein, Laura I. "PACs, Lobbies and Political Conflict: The Case of Gun Control,"Public Choice, 77, 1993, pp. 551–72.
Loucks, Christine. "Finance Industry PAC Contributions to U.S. Senators, 1983–88,"Public Choice, 89, 1996, pp. 219–29.
Mitchell, William; Munger, Michael. "Economic Models of Interest Groups: An Introductory Survey,"American Journal of Political Science, 35, 1991, pp. 512–46.
Munger, Michael. "A Simple Test of the Thesis that Committee Jurisdictions Shape Corporate PAC Contributions,"Public Choice, 62, 1989, pp. 181–6.
Poole, Keith; Romer, Thomas. "Patterns of Political Action Committee Contributions to the 1980 Campaigns for the United States House of Representatives,"Public Choice, 47, 1985, pp. 63–111.
Regens, J. L.; Elliott, E.; Gaddie, R. K. "Regulatory Costs, Committee Jurisdictions, and Corporate PAC Contributions,"Social Science Quarterly, 72, 1991, pp. 751–60.
Romer, Thomas; Snyder, James. "An Empirical Investigation of the Dynamics of PAC Contributions,"American Journal of Political Science, 38, 1994, pp. 745–69.
Snyder, J. M. "Campaign Contributions as Investments: The U.S. House of Representatives,"Journal of Political Economy, 98, 1990, pp. 1195–228.
Stratman, T. "What Do Campaign Contributions Buy: Deciphering Causal Effects of Money and Votes,"Southern Economic Journal, 57, 1991, pp. 606–20.
Tobin, James. "Estimation of Relationships for Limited Dependent Variables,"Econometrica, 1958, pp. 24–36.
U.S. Congress (Joint Committee on Printing).Congressional Directory, Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, various years.
Wayman, Frank. "Arms Control and Strategic Arms Voting in the U.S. Senate: Patterns of Change,"Journal of Conflict Resolution, 29, 1985, pp. 225–51.
Welch, William. "Campaign Contributions and Legislative Voting: Milk Money and Dairy Price Supports,"Western Political Quarterly, 35, 1982, pp. 478–95.
Wright, John. "PACs, Contributions, and Roll Calls: An Organizational Perspective,"American Political Science Review, 79, 1985, pp. 400–14.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Florence, R.E. An analysis of PAC contributions and legislator quality. Atlantic Economic Journal 27, 59–73 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02299178
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02299178