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Mathis Preti

PhD student Aix-Marseille UniversitéFaculté d'économie et de gestion (FEG)

Preti
Status
PhD candidate
Research domain(s)
Public economics
PhD
Industrial lobbies and doubt manufacturing using science
Since 2023, under the direction of Yann Bramoullé, Charles Figuières
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CV
Address

AMU - AMSE
5-9 Boulevard Maurice Bourdet, CS 50498
​13205 Marseille Cedex 1

Abstract Between 1954 and 1998, the tobacco industry funded more than 1,900 research projects at a total cost of $355 million, on topics such as the roles of heredity and nutrition in cancer. Even though legitimate, this research was intended to divert attention from the harmful effects of tobacco. We provide the first formal analysis of such diversion research. We show that special interests may have strong incentives to affect the scientific agenda, even when the research itself is unbiased. This form of scientific lobbying yields large welfare losses and raises concerns about the private funding of research.
Keywords Scientific Uncertainty, Scientific lobbying, Private research funding