Corporate Political Strategies in Europe: The determinants of firms’ access to the European Commission

Corporate political strategies have extensively been used by firms trying to shape their political environment. Despite comprehensive research conducted in some environments such as in the US, few studies have focused on an empirical analysis of this phenomenon in Europe. This paper builds on the integration of new institutional economics and resourcebased view (RBV) of firms to analyze which factors increase firms' degree of access to the European Commission. The analysis is performed on a unique dataset to assess the dynamics of access to the European Commission representatives. The results suggest the importance of political knowledge, underlining that it could represent a source of sustainable competitive advantage. This study brings useful information to enlarge knowledge on corporate political strategies in the European Union.