Can Private Interests Buy Public Science ? *

Can private interest groups influence the decisions of independent experts to achieve their desired outcomes? This study analyzes a common non-market strategy — lobbying powerful politicians — through which interest groups seek to influence the allocation of public funds in the context of peerreviewed funding for research on rare diseases by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). We find evidence suggesting that the lobbying of disease advocates increases political support, in the form of Congressional “soft earmarks” for the diseases, and NIH’s peer reviewed funding responds to the earmarks associated with lobbying. We also find that lobbying by interest groups is more likely to succeed when it helps focus Congressional and expert attention on diseases with higher burden and greater scientific opportunity.