What makes successful business lobbies? Business associations and the Rentier State in Jordan and Kuwait

Many recent studies of business-state relations in the developing world foc us on state-level and higher variables. For more accurate models scholars n eed to shift the focus to the institutional representation of business. The divergent outcomes of business lobbying in Jordan and Kuwait lead to two c onclusions. Strong, effective business associations can compensate for weak state capacities in formulating and implementing economic reform, and the ability of the business association to play such productive roles is determ ined largely by the structure of representation within the association.