A Law and Economics Analysis of Lobbying Regulation: Towards an optimal structure through the Cost Indicator Index

Abstract

During recent years, lobbying has become an inevitable term in our daily life. The term is often used (and abused) for illustration of different situations ranging from daily politics, elections, campaigns, advocacy and even corruption! It does not surprise then that most people nowadays have a blurry idea of what lobbying actually is. The responsibility for such an inaccurate perception falls on the media, who also have blurred the perception of the process, but this has not prevented them from using it to describe a variety of situations which often do not have much to do with the term. Lobbying is simply a dynamic activity, which even further complicates all attempts at understanding and reporting about it. Is regulation of lobbying a socially relevant topic?