The role of special interest groups (SIGs) is a major area of research for economists, political scientists, sociologists and historians. The interest of economists mainly focus on the incentives that encourage the creation and development of these groups and the effect on domestic growth. In a pioneering book, “The rise and decline of nations”, Mancur Olson describes in-detail the macroeconomic impact of the activities of these groups. In this article, a survey is carried out with regard to the miscellaneous factors referred to in the bibliography which affect the formation of SIG's and their subsequent influence on the economy of each individual country. The aim is to underline all the variables that have been used in the literature to estimate how interest groups affect the domestic economy.

In literature there are many studies considering the action of interest groups in several countries’ societies and economies. In order to study the effect of special interest groups in the economy of each country, a multitude of variables have been used by researchers. After an extended bibliographic research in the recording of the economy affecting variables that have been used, this research presents a methodology for the selection of those which better represent the action of interest groups in the economy of Greece. The methodology used is based on Principal Component Analysis and therefore on the correlation tests needed. In this way it can be concluded which variables can be more advantageous in future research.

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