
doi: 10.2139/ssrn.2677481
handle: 10419/122034
We develop a model of policymaking in which a politician decides how much expertise to acquire or how informed to become about issues before interest groups engage in monetary lobbying. For a range of issues, the policymaker prefers to remain clueless about the merits of reform, even when acquiring expertise or better information is costless. Such a strategy leads to intense lobbying competition and larger political contributions. We identify a novel benefit of campaign finance reform, showing how contribution limits decrease the incentives that policymakers have to remain uninformed or ignorant of the issues on which they vote.
C72, D72, ddc:330, lobbying, strategic ignorance, campaign finance, rent seeking, lobbying, rent seeking, campaign finance, strategic ignorance, jel: jel:C72, jel: jel:D72
C72, D72, ddc:330, lobbying, strategic ignorance, campaign finance, rent seeking, lobbying, rent seeking, campaign finance, strategic ignorance, jel: jel:C72, jel: jel:D72
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