Regulatory capture in public procurement: Evidence from revolving door bureaucrats in Japan

摘要

This paper studies how hiring public officials affects firms & rsquo; ability to win government contracts in Japan. We link personnel transitions of public officials to contractors and government contracts awarded to those contractors over time. Using within-firm variation, we find evidence consistent with exchange of post-public employment for increases in government contract awards. Our results suggest that quid-pro-quo arrangements are not made as simple bilateral agreements between an individual public official and a firm, but rather made with substantial organizational involvement.(c) 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.