Do Project Labor Agreements Reduce the Number of Bidders on Public Projects? The Case of Community Colleges in California

2020 ◽  
pp. 1087724X2095666
Author(s):  
Peter Philips ◽  
Emma Waitzman
Keyword(s):  
Community College ◽  
Community Colleges ◽  
Business Cycle ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Public Procurement ◽  
Public Works ◽  
Public Projects ◽  
Prevailing Wage ◽  
The Business Cycle

Project labor agreements (PLAs) are commonly found on larger California public works in urban areas. Nonetheless, they remain a controversial public procurement practice. One issue not examined in the literature is whether as some critics suggest, PLAs reduce the number of bidders on public projects. Analyzing 263 bid openings for community college construction in California over the period 2007 to 2016, this first-ever study of PLA effects on the number of bids finds that controlling for the location where the project occurred, the size of projects, the business cycle and the season when the project was let, the number of bidders on a project was not altered by the presence or absence of project of PLAs. This study also finds that relative to engineer’s estimates available on 99 of these projects, the lowest bids on prevailing wage projects were not higher than the lowest bids on projects without PLA agreements.

The Community College and the Business Cycle

2016 ◽  
Vol 48 (5) ◽  
pp. 52-57 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard M. Romano ◽  
James C. Palmer
Keyword(s):  
Community College ◽  
Business Cycle ◽  
The Business Cycle

Stock Returns and the Business Cycle

CFA Digest ◽  
2005 ◽  
Vol 35 (2) ◽  
pp. 42-43
Author(s):  
Daniel B. Cashion
Keyword(s):  
Business Cycle ◽  
Stock Returns ◽  
The Business Cycle

EXPANSIONS AND RECESSIONS IN THE MEXICAN STATES: A CLASSICAL BUSINESS CYCLES APPROACH

2017 ◽  
Vol 3 (5) ◽  
pp. 32
Author(s):  
Pablo Mejía-Reyes
Keyword(s):  
Business Cycles ◽  
Business Cycle ◽  
Monthly Basis ◽  
Production Index ◽  
Clear Cut ◽  
Output Measure ◽  
Central Regions ◽  
The Business Cycle ◽  
National Business ◽  
Cycle Indicator

This paper aims to document expansions and recessions characteristics for 17 states of Mexico over the period 1993-2006 by using a classical business cycle approach. We use the manufacturing production index for each state as the business cycle indicator since it is the only output measure available on a monthly basis. According to this approach, we analyse asymmetries in mean, volatility and duration as well as synchronisation over the business cycle regimes (expansions and recessions) for each case. Our results indicate that recessions are less persistent and more volatile (in general) than expansions in most Mexican states; yet, there is no clear cut evidence on mean asymmetries. In turn, there seems to be strong links between the business cycle regimes within the Northern and Central regions of the country and between states with similar industrialisation patterns, although it is difficult to claim that a national business cycle exists.

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