Explore our knowledge

Ben­jamin Carl Krag Egerod

Tenure Track Assistant Professor

Subjects
Strategy Quantitative methods Democracy Politics North America Western Europe

Primary research areas

Cor­por­ate polit­ic­al activ­ity
I study how, why and with which ef­fects firms en­gage in the polit­ic­al pro­cess. I’m in­ter­ested in cor­por­ate in­ter­ac­tions with both le­gis­lat­ors and bur­eau­crats.
The re­volving door
I study the move­ment of pub­lic of­fi­cials into cor­por­ate po­s­i­tions. I’m in­ter­ested in both the op­por­tun­it­ies this may of­fer the firms that hire them, and the of­fi­cials’ mo­tiv­a­tions for leav­ing pub­lic of­fice.
The mar­ket for lob­by­ing ser­vices
The lob­by­ing in­dustry acts as a gate­keep­er con­nect­ing de­cision-makers in the polit­ic­al world to act­ors in civil so­ci­ety. I study the mar­ket for lob­by­ing ser­vices, a key de­term­in­ant in this pro­cess.
Bur­eau­crat­ic and reg­u­lat­ory polit­ics
I study why bur­eau­crats are pro­moted, how reg­u­lat­ory rules are made and en­forced. I have an em­phas­is on the role of firms, but my re­search cov­ers broad­er top­ics.
Amer­ic­an polit­ics
While I study many con­texts, the United States is the coun­try I study most of­ten. My pub­lished re­search has ex­amined both Con­gress and the fed­er­al bur­eau­cracy.
Polit­ic­al eco­nomy of do­mest­ic gov­ern­ing in­sti­tu­tions
I’m broadly in­ter­ested in “who gets what, when and how” as well as how this is shaped by the spe­cif­ic in­sti­tu­tion­al setup.

Striv­ing to un­der­stand the role of firms in demo­crat­ic gov­ernance

I examine the various roles that money plays in politics, with an emphasis on how individual firms engage in the political process. I am particularly interested in the role that social connections to politicians play in corporate political activity. A large part of my research examines interactions between firms and the bureaucracy. My research helps us understand the role of firms and businesspeople in democratic governance.  

  In my research, I draw on quantitative methods, and I have a strong focus on research design and quasi-experimental methods. Since most of the interactions I am interested in are difficult to observe, I often work with unstructured data (e.g. text). 

  My dissertation on the revolving door between the US Congress and the private sector received the 2018/19 Stigler Dissertation Award from the Stigler Center, University of Chicago, Booth School of Business. Today, I am a non-resident Fellow at the Stigler Center.

Recent research projects

CBS-Prin­ceton Copen­ha­gen Money in Polit­ics Con­fer­ence

The Copen­ha­gen Money in Polit­ics Con­fer­ence, co-or­gan­ized by fac­ulty at CBS and Prin­ceton, brings to­geth­er schol­ars study­ing the role of money in polit­ics. This in­cludes – but is not lim­ited to – re­search on non-mar­ket strategy, lob­by­ing, cam­paign fin­ance, polit­ic­al con­nec­tions, cor­rup­tion, busi­ness and polit­ics, and how de­cision-makers (in­clud­ing bur­eau­crats) in­ter­act with spe­cial in­terests.
Latest call for papers

The Cor­por­ate Re­volving Door

The Cor­por­ate Re­volving Door pro­ject, fun­ded by the In­de­pend­ent Re­search Fund Den­mark, of­fers the first large scale, cross coun­try study of the move­ment of pub­lic of­fi­cials into cor­por­ate po­s­i­tions in the United States and West­ern European coun­tries. Jan Stuck­a­tz is co-PI.

Cor­por­ate Polit­ic­al Con­nec­tions in Den­mark

The pro­ject provides the first com­pre­hens­ive ex­am­in­a­tion of so­cial con­nec­tions between firms and de­cision-makers at all levels of gov­ern­ment in Den­mark. Lasse Folke Hen­riksen is Co-PI. This pro­ject is a sub-com­pon­ent of Magtudred­nin­gen 2.0 (The Audit of Power and Democacy in Den­mark).