Innovation for hire: a descriptive study of federal acquisitions and contractor R&D

Purpose This paper aims to investigate the extent to which federal acquisitions motivate private-sector partner firms’ investment in innovation. Design/methodology/approach Archival, Empirical. Findings This study finds that federal acquisitions are positively associated with contractors’ R&D spending but that the intensity of R&D spending is indistinguishable between firms’ government and private sectors (non-government) contracts. This study also develops a novel measure of the intensity of contractor R&D spending on public sector relative to private-sector clients and assesses construct validity of the measure. Research limitations/implications Cultivating innovation is an explicit goal of federal procurement. Innovation is critical to addressing the nation’s collective problems. The results should be of interest to scholars and practitioners, particularly acquisition personnel, one of whose responsibilities is to efficiently steward tax revenues to the most productive (contracting) use. Originality/value This study is descriptive in nature and helps to illuminate the extent and conditions under which federal acquisition activity motivates investment in innovation by private-sector partners. These results speak to how effectively government contracting motivates private-sector innovation, which clearly has implications for fiscal stewardship. Additionally, private-sector innovation affects stock price formation. Collectively, these results imply that the extent to which acquisitions motivate innovation has material implications on our country’s fiscal health.

Delivering Capability Through Competition in Defense Contracting: Does Policy Drive Results?

Competition in Defense contracting is a vital component of the acquisition system. Competition encourages research, innovation, and the production of new products and services, while motivating a robust industrial base. Accordingly, legislation, DoD directives, and policy guidance have sought to encourage competition in DoD contracting and enhance methods of tracking competition progress. This article presents the results of a study against the background of previous U.S. Government Accountability Office competition examinations to identify trends in competition, particularly in terms of DoD agencies and purchase categories. Data retrieved from the Federal Procurement Database System–Next Generation, and a sample of Justification and Approvals, retrieved from beta.sam.gov, provide a basis to forecast trends and a foundation for recommendations.

Does Contracting Achieve Better Performance for Democratic-Constitutional, Procedural Tasks? Evidence From the EEO Discrimination Complaint Process

Contracting out has been considered one of the main performance management strategies to reduce costs and bring more expertise to government agencies. However, there is a lack of research assessing the performance of contractors compared with that of in-house agency employees, when both contractors and public employees deliver complex services. This study examines whether or not contracting achieves better performance in democratic-constitutional, procedural (DCP) tasks compared with in-house delivery, by analyzing contracting use in the Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) discrimination complaint process. Using agency-level panel data from the Federal EEO Statistical Report of Discrimination Complaints, combined with data from the Federal Procurement Data System and the Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey, the study offers evidence resolving the competing logics for a relationship between contracting use and performance in DCP tasks. The findings show that an increase in contracting is associated with a decrease in timely completion of case investigations, which is a key measure of DCP task performance.

Bureaucratic Competence and Procurement Outcomes

To what extent does a more competent public bureaucracy contribute to better economic outcomes? We address this question in the context of the US federal procurement of services and works, by combining contract-level data on procurement performance and bureau-level data on competence and workforce characteristics. We use the death occurrences of specific types of employees as instruments and find that an increase in bureau competence causes a significant and economically important reduction in (a) time delays, (b) cost overruns, and (c) number of renegotiations. Cooperation within the office appears to be a key driver of the findings. (JEL D73, H11, H57, L26).

Good Enough for Government Work? An Incomplete Contracts Approach to the Use of Nonprofits in U.S. Federal Procurement

This paper examines the use of the nonprofit organizational form to mitigate the impact of incomplete contracts in the public sector Transaction costs economics (TCE) predicts that the expense of incomplete contracts will rise with contract complexity and asset specificity. Previous research shows that government agencies increase their use cost-plus style contracts to economize on these costs. However, cost-plus style contracts may also increase the propensity to inflate procurement costs, also known as gold-plating, when relationally specific investments are required. Consistent with this expectation, we find that federal agencies reduce their use of cost-plus style contracts as asset specificity rises. The paper then explores the use of nonprofit organizations as an alternative tool to reduce contracting costs. Using data from the Federal Procurement Data System, we examine the choice of organizational form by federal agencies, as contracts become more or less incomplete. Consistent with our hypotheses, we find that the use of nonprofit organizations increases with contract complexity. In contrast to cost-plus style contracts, we find that the use of nonprofits also increases with asset specificity. We apply this finding to support the conjecture that the nonprofit organization form is used by government agencies to mitigate contract incompleteness without the associated risk of cost inflation. We conclude by offering suggestions for why nonprofit contracts appear relatively infrequently in federal procurement data.

Government as Customer of Last Resort: The Stabilizing Effects of Government Purchases on Firms

I document a beneficial effect of the government’s participation in product markets. Exploiting the 2008–2009 financial crisis as a natural experiment, I show that federal procurement contracts insulated government contractors’ performance from the crisis. By 2009, government contractors had 15% higher market capitalization, had 18% higher capital expenditures, and received 26% more bank credit than did similar firms. This stabilizing effect, in turn, spilled over into neighboring firms. An average amount of government purchases reduced local employment losses by 35% in retail industries and by 48% in industries supplying government contractors. Spillovers were particularly strong in high economic slack areas. Author has furnished an Internet Appendix, which is available on the Oxford University Press Web site next to the link to the final published paper online.

The efficacy of gender-based federal procurement policies in the United States

Purpose Because procurement policies are one of the means of redressing discrimination and economic exclusion, the US Government has targeted 23 per cent of its annual half-trillion dollar spend to small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and 5 per cent of its spend to women-owned businesses. Design/methodology/approach The research framework is informed by two theoretical paradigms, feminist empiricism and entrepreneurial feminism, and uses a secondary analysis of survey data of active federal contractors. Findings Empirical findings inform the extent to which certifications are associated with bid frequency and bid success. The results indicate that none of the various certifications increase either bid frequency or bid success. The findings are consistent with entrepreneurial feminism and call for federal accountability in contracting with women-owned supplier firms. Research limitations/implications The findings are consistent with entrepreneurial feminism and call for federal accountability in contracting with women-owned supplier firms. Practical implications Recommendations include the need to review the impact of consolidated tenders on designated (as certified) SME vendors and to train procurement personnel about the economic contributions of women-owned businesses. Originality/value This research studies the efficacy of various certifications, with particular reference to that of women-owned, on the frequency with which SMEs bid on, and succeed in obtaining, US federal procurement contracts.

On the formation and functioning of the municipal election commission

The article deals with problems of the legal status, formation and functioning of the election commission of the municipality. The author analyzes the provisions of the Federal Law "On Basic Guarantees of Electoral Rights," this law determines the status of the election commission of the municipality. The author notes the following problems of the legal status of the municipal commission. First, the representative body of the municipal formation forms the municipal election commission. Secondly, the representative body of the municipality must appoint half of the total number of members of the municipal election commission on the basis of proposals of election commission of the subject of the Russian Federation. Thirdly, the municipal election commission is not legal entity, in this connection, the municipal authority is more dependent on the election commission of the subject of the Russian Federation. Fourth, the order of work of members of the municipal election commission is uncertain. Fifthly, the scope of the federal procurement law is not correct. Proposals to improve the electoral legislation are formulated in the research.