The National Bureau of Economic Research published a new study about lobbying called “The Dynamics of Firm Lobbying.”

For a good summary of the results of this study, read the Washington Post’s article “Corporate lobbying is a very exclusive club” by Brad Plumer. The article says the report shows a small percentage of firms are lobbying and the companies that are lobbying are big, with large budgets. They describe the challenges facing companies and organizations that wish to promote their issues in Washington.

According to the article: “Washington is teeming with lobbyists. In 2009, there were 13,700 of them. So you’d think it would be easy for any company to stride into town and start pressing its issues on members of Congress. But that doesn’t seem to be the case. Only a relatively small number of firms lobby each year. What’s more, the turnover is quite low. Lobbying, it seems, is not a game that just anyone can play.”

Photo of the United States Capitol by Florian Hirzinger on Wikipedia.