Representatives of competing firms often comprise special interest groups. Why are competitors sometimes willing to cooperate in order to form lobbying associations?

Special interest groups are associations of individuals or organizations that promote specific policy goals in the government. Lobbying associations are formed by these groups to influence public policy, legislation, or regulations. Competing firms might come together within a special interest group to lobby for their mutual interests.

The first step in understanding why competitors would cooperate is by recognizing that they might have common interests they would like to pursue. This could include favourable industry regulations, favourable tax policies, infrastructure investments, or any other economic policies that benefit the firms. By coming together, these competing firms can pool their resources and exploit their combined influence to achieve these shared policy objectives.

Lobbying efforts can be expensive and resource-intensive. By cooperating and forming a lobbying association, competing firms can share the costs of these efforts and combine their resources to make the lobbying process more efficient. This enables them to maximize their influence in policymaking, and in some cases, can help smaller firms to gain a voice they would not have on their own.

Legislators and regulators are more likely to heed the concerns and policy recommendations of organizations that represent a unified industry voice. By cooperating within a lobbying association, competing firms can demonstrate consensus and unity in their industry, which can be a powerful influencer in policy debates.

Sometimes, competitors are willing to cooperate in lobbying efforts to protect their industry from unforeseen market risks such as new technologies, changing consumer preferences, or shifts in the global economy. By working together, competing firms can get ahead of potential threats to their industry and ensure their sustained competitiveness. In conclusion, while competing firms might have conflicting interests in the market, they can also have various reasons to collaborate and form lobbying associations. Such cooperation can be driven by shared policy objectives, cost-sharing, resource pooling, the need for a unified industry voice, and mitigating market risks. These factors provide an incentive for competitors to cooperate as part of special interest groups and maximize their influence over policies impacting their industry.