The impact of national business cultures on large Ffrm lobbying in the European Union : evidence from a large-scale of survey of government affairs managers

Abstract This paper reports research into cross-national differences in corporate lobbying in the European Union (EU). Original data collected through an online survey, conducted between April and June 2010, of 132 government affairs managers in large firms are analysed to ascertain the extent their political activities are influenced by the national business cultures in which they were socialised. Findings indicate significant relationships between (1) respondents’ culturally-grounded attitudes towards time and their level of engagement with policy-makers, and (2) their culturally-conditioned attitudes towards power and hierarchy and their choice of political tactics when seeking to promote their political interests. Contrary to expectations, no significant relationship was found between respondents’ cultural preferences for acting autonomously or within a group, and their level of participation in the policy-making process. The research makes important contributions to the literature on Europeanization ...