# Andy Eggers and Jens Hainmueller on " Estimating Returns to Office in Post-War British Politics" March 10, 2008 This Wednesday we are excited to welcome Andy Eggers and Jens Hainmueller, Government Department, Harvard University, who will present, "MPs for Sale? Estimating Returns to Office in Post-War British Politics'. Andy and Jens provided the following abstract: While the role of money in policymaking is a central question in political economy research, surprisingly little attention has been given to the rents politicians actually make from politics. Using an original dataset on the size of British politicians' estates, we find that gaining a seat in the House of Commons had a large effect on personal wealth: Conservative Party MPs died with almost twice as much money, on average, as very similar Parliamentary candidates who were defeated. We find no financial benefits for candidates from the Labour party. We argue that Conservative MPs profited from office in a lax regulatory environment by using their political positions to obtain outside work as directors, consultants, and lobbyists, both while in office and after retirement. Our results are consistent with anecdotal evidence on MPs' outside financial dealings but suggest that the magnitude of influence peddling was larger than has been appreciated. The paper is available here: The applied statistics workshop meets in room N-354 in CGIS-Knafel, 1737 Cambridge st. The workshop begins at 12 noon with a light lunch, with presentations usually beginning around 1215. Please contact me with any questions Justin Grimmer Posted by [Justin Grimmer](http://www.iq.harvard.edu/blog/sss/archives/author/justin-grimmer/) at March 10, 2008 10:42 AM Share on:- [ Facebook ](#) - [ Twitter ](#) - [ Linkedin ](#)