When Do Connections Outweigh Expertise? Issue-Domain Resource Dependence and the Value of Lobbyists

When Do Connections Outweigh Expertise? Issue-Domain Resource Dependence and the Value of Lobbyists | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article When Do Connections Outweigh Expertise? Issue-Domain Resource Dependence and the Value of Lobbyists John Barrick, Adam Olson, Jennifer Brown This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-8652814/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Review Version 1 posted 6 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Research suggests lobbyists derive value primarily from their connections, “whom they know,” rather than from their expertise, “what they know” (Blanes i Vidal et al. 2012; Bertrand et al. 2014). This study further examines lobbyists’ value proposition by investigating how issue domain characteristics — size, technical complexity, and partisan ideology —impact the relative importance of connections and expertise. We find that the premium for lobbyists’ connections exists across all issue domains, though it is attenuated in highly partisan domains. However, the premium for lobbyists’ expertise exists only for large, more technical, or less partisan issue domains. Alternatively, we find lobbyists’ expertise detrimental when lobbying for smaller, less technical, or more partisan issue domains. These results give context to the role lobbyists play in government decisions. Lobbyists likely add technical expertise to the political discussion when the issue domain markets are large, technical, or less partisan. Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Review Version 1 posted Reviews received at journal 02 Mar, 2026 Reviewers agreed at journal 02 Feb, 2026 Reviewers invited by journal 29 Jan, 2026 Editor assigned by journal 27 Jan, 2026 Submission checks completed at journal 27 Jan, 2026 First submitted to journal 20 Jan, 2026 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-8652814","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":582589032,"identity":"a5c9c8dd-97dd-44c6-8367-84549a6122b5","order_by":0,"name":"John Barrick","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAAs0lEQVRIiWNgGAWjYBACAxCRwJAgB2YwsJGgxZhELUBNiRuI1mLOfvbZhwc1aenbJXIMGD6UHSasxbIn3XhGwrGc3J0zcgwYZ5wjQovBgTRmhsSGitwNN3IMmHnbiNFy/hlYS7oBSMtforTcANuSkwDWwkiMFssZQFsSjqUZ7ux5VnCw51w6YS3m/GnMjD9qkuXN2ZM3PvhRZk1YCwIIJDAcIEU9EPCTqmEUjIJRMApGDAAAHgU6RMY5XRUAAAAASUVORK5CYII=","orcid":"","institution":"Brigham Young University","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"John","middleName":"","lastName":"Barrick","suffix":""},{"id":582589033,"identity":"08f120dc-4841-4507-9209-e49299ea3dcf","order_by":1,"name":"Adam Olson","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Adam","middleName":"","lastName":"Olson","suffix":""},{"id":582589034,"identity":"9a2fd944-539c-4ddc-8d4e-6aff846678b9","order_by":2,"name":"Jennifer Brown","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Jennifer","middleName":"","lastName":"Brown","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2026-01-20 20:30:21","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8652814/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-8652814/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":101754056,"identity":"31d1d99c-20a7-468c-8a08-cd0fe1e6b2b4","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-02-03 10:41:29","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":733409,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"Manuscript1202026.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8652814/v1_covered_4c8c43f6-3dab-4470-830d-f8b37e47db41.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"When Do Connections Outweigh Expertise? 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