Politicians' Private Sector Jobs and Parliamentary Activity

• In Event: Are Political Leaders Out of Touch with the Poor?

Abstract

The majority of democratic countries allow their members of parliament to concurrently hold employment in the private sector. A common concern about such “moonlighting” jobs is that they are a source of conflicts of interest or outright corruption, allowing moneyed special interests to have an outsize impact on the political process. However, little is known about whether this is in fact true. Does having a second job in the private sector affect how politicians behave in office?

In this paper, I analyze this questions using comprehensive panel data on the private sector earnings of all members of the British House of Commons from 2010 to 2016. I employ a within-MP design to study the effect of taking up or leaving a private sector position on MPs' legislative activities. Specifically, I examine the effect of moonlighting on MPs' voting behavior and the frequency and content of their parliamentary speeches. I also examine whether the effect of moonlighting is different depending on MP characteristics (e.g. class, gender, party).

The paper contributes to our understanding of whether and how wealthy individuals or corporations can gain access to and influence over elected representatives. Specifically, it adds to the the literatures on the effect of money in politics, moonlighting, and the financial returns of holding office.

Author

• Simon Weschle, Syracuse University