Air pollution and business political influence in fifteen OECD countries

In this paper I examine the political influence of business in the context of environmental politics by comparing the explanatory role of three distinct sources of business power: political organization, a structurally privileged position in politics, and informational advantages. Using data on fifteen OECD countries between 1981 and 1999, the analysis shows that business organizational strength and information asymmetry in government – business relations are important determinants of observed differences in air pollution across countries and over time. By contrast, there is no support for the claim that the structural dominance of business constrains political efforts to improve air quality. By analyzing the role of asymmetric information and systems of interest intermediation simultaneously, the paper contributes to our understanding of the causal mechanisms that link corporatism to environmental performance.