ABSTRACT
This chapter examines more deeply the ways in which businesses try to influence the position of a think tank. It suggests that the cumulative effect of a think tank relationship, may justify a generous contribution by the most hard-nosed business decision maker. An examination of the ongoing activities of any of the five major Washington-based think tanks reveals a great many efforts to raise the information level of business representatives, as well as of other influential groups in the society, on a wide range of public issues. Business firms also have alternatives to think tanks in terms of players in the public policy arena. There is considerable incentive for businesses to get involved in the development of public policy. Businesses that have become accustomed to detailed regulation are not exactly antagonistic to extending regulation to other firms. Those other companies are more likely to provide funds for a think tank whose research shows the benefits of reduced regulation.
