Thesis
Rational choice institutionalism and federal contracting officers' discretionary authority for allocating construction contracts among federally designated disadvantaged and socioeconomic small business concerns: an exploratory research design
Washington State University
Master of Public Affairs (MPA), Washington State University
2017
Handle:
https://hdl.handle.net/2376/100635
Abstract
This reseach design is an exploratory one that utilizes Rational Choice Institutionalism as a theoretical lense to explore the question how does a Contracting Officer utilize his, her discretionary authority to allocate Federal construction contracts amoung Federally designated disadvantaged and socioeconomic small business concerns? This research posits that Federal contracting is an institutional arrangement made up of rules and incentives that is regulatative of the actors involved, as illustrated under the Rational Choice Institutionalism approach, and that the actors work to maximize and actualize their own self-interest and utilities under the egoist assumptions associated with Rational Choice theory. Data was collected through a survey and five-in-depth interviews. A multidemensional game-theory matrix payoff model has been created that is based upon the statues, regulations, and agency guidance that surrounds the Contracting Officer. The matrix is a machine analogous process that assumes the actions of a Contracting Officer, absent of discretionary choice, and is utilized to construct the survey's questions and informed the researcher on what questions to ask when conducting the in-depth interviews. Data analysis on the survey instruments find that a Contracting Officer is 2.9 times more likely to allocate a construction contract to a total small business than to sole-source or set-aside a contract to a disadvantaged or socioeconomic small business program. However, the research finds that the 8(a) program is 3 times more likely to receive a Federal construction contract than a Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business, Women-Owned Small business, or a business that is certified within Historically Underutilized Business Zones. Contracting Officers utilize their bureaucratic discretion during the procurement process in two ways: The Rule Followers and The Activists. Each group can affect Federal procurement practices and small business programs. Agency culture, level of education, military Veteran status, budgetary constraints, biases, and preferences are shown to influence whether a Contracting Officer is more or less likely to utilize bureaucratic discretion when navigating the procurement process.
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Details
- Title
- Rational choice institutionalism and federal contracting officers' discretionary authority for allocating construction contracts among federally designated disadvantaged and socioeconomic small business concerns
- Creators
- Gary Lee Nelson
- Contributors
- Paul Thiers (Degree Supervisor)
- Awarding Institution
- Washington State University
- Academic Unit
- Politics, Philosophy and Public Affairs, School of
- Theses and Dissertations
- Master of Public Affairs (MPA), Washington State University
- Publisher
- Washington State University; [Pullman, Washington] :
- Identifiers
- 99900525134701842
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Thesis