"Laws passed by Congress get a lot of attention, but a lot of the real action actually happens at the regulatory level," said study co-author Genevieve Kanter, senior fellow at the USC Schaeffer Center and associate professor at the USC Sol Price School of Public Policy."Regulatory agencies can decide the fortunes of many companies."
The share of appointees leaving for industry jobs did not vary by political party of the appointing president, though Republicans were more likely to appoint people directly from industry, according to the study.