Business Routes of Influence in Brussels: Exploring the Choice of Direct Representation

This paper presents one of the first statistical analyses of the factors that determine the extent to which direct influence strategies are used by companies. New survey evidence and multivariate analysis is used to assess seven hypotheses to explain direct influence strategies. The factor of greatest significance is company size since direct influence is open only to large companies. But the extent to which direct influence is followed by large companies depends on their sector, its extent of organization, the sector's size and ‘weight’, and the form of the business association relevant to the sector. Direct influence is more likely where associations cover large corporate businesses (rather than owner-managers, professionals, federations or mixed associations), in sectors with a high degree of market concentration within large companies, and where their associations are relatively small. These findings are related to the logic of collective action suggesting that in sectors where there is the least chance to opt out of an association, there is a greater chance of a business also directly lobbying in order to assure itself that its interests are not being diluted and so that it can gain direct specific information or influence benefits.