Study reveals how quiet political connections help corporations win contracts

A study published in Strategic Management Journal sheds light on the subtle yet significant role that unelected officials play in helping corporations secure successful contract bids.

The research, led by Dr. Tony L. He of Rutgers Business School in Newark, N.J., analyzed a dataset of 14,849 public procurement contracts across 28 European countries between 2011 and 2017.

“My research shows that, contrary to what many might expect, in this particular context it’s not the flashy connections to powerful elected officials that help firms most,” Dr. He explained. “Instead, relationships with lower-profile, unelected officials often have a bigger impact on firms’ success in winning government contracts.”

When a corporation wants to leverage public pressure to achieve government policy changes, the endorsement of a high-profile political figure can lend legitimacy. But for some operations, it’s connections to agents moving in the shadows that exert the most influence on procurement outcomes.

He found that corporate political connections operating outside the spotlight—such as unelected advisors, aides, and administrative staff—might be more effective drivers of corporate influence in certain public allocation processes, because they play a crucial role in shaping government decisions but are subject to less scrutiny.

Drawing on a combination of case studies, empirical data and theoretical models, Dr. He explored how corporations approach visibility with their political engagement. He used a sample of 14,849 public procurement contracts across 28 European countries from 2011 to 2017, examining the association of contract bid success with the involvement of corporate political connections.

The analysis breaks down differences in the influence of elected politicians versus unelected political agents.

“I also find that visibility matters on two levels, not just who’s involved and but also how transparent the process is,” Dr. He said. “Elected politicians don’t seem to influence contracts decided through open, competitive bidding, where everything is quite public and visible. But they can shape the rules that determine who’s even allowed to bid in the first place, which happens behind the scenes. Unelected officials, by contrast, appear to exert influence across all types of contracts, using their lower visibility to stay involved in different kinds of processes.”

His findings illuminate potential issues in the realm of corporate transparency. Dr. He suggests that understanding how influence operates beneath the surface can help governments strengthen measures to uphold accountability standards and help ensure fairness in contract allocations.

“It’s easy to assume that influence only comes from the high-profile politicians we see on TV,” said Dr. He. “But my research shows that unelected officials and behind-the-scenes processes can shape outcomes just as much as visible politicians. Strengthening accountability for those less-visible roles can reduce corruption risks, and we need to recognize that influence often works in subtle ways, like shaping which firms gets to compete in the first place. Effective transparency and fairness measures require understanding the many points in political processes where decisions can be influenced.”

To read the full context of the study and its methods, access the full paper available in the Strategic Management Journal.

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