IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/ecinqu/v60y2022i1p247-264.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Subcontracting and the incidence of change orders in procurement contracts

Author

Listed:
  • Hojin Jung
  • Georgia Kosmopoulou
  • Robert Press
  • Richard Sicotte

Abstract

In public procurement, most contracts are renegotiated ex post and involve subcontractors. We examine whether there is a causal link between subcontractor use and the incidence of change orders to amend the original scope of a project. Since subcontracting is likely related to unobserved project complexity, we use a novel IV, the predicted level of subcontracting from a method modeled after Christakis et al. (2010), to estimate the likelihood of renegotiation. The results establish that subcontractors are associated with an increased likelihood of change orders as well as a higher dollar amount renegotiated.

Suggested Citation

  • Hojin Jung & Georgia Kosmopoulou & Robert Press & Richard Sicotte, 2022. "Subcontracting and the incidence of change orders in procurement contracts," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 60(1), pages 247-264, January.
  • Handle: RePEc:bla:ecinqu:v:60:y:2022:i:1:p:247-264
    DOI: 10.1111/ecin.13002
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/ecin.13002
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/ecin.13002?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. De Silva, Dakshina G. & Dunne, Timothy & Kosmopoulou, Georgia & Lamarche, Carlos, 2012. "Disadvantaged business enterprise goals in government procurement contracting: An analysis of bidding behavior and costs," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 30(4), pages 377-388.
    2. Hojin Jung & Georgia Kosmopoulou & Carlos Lamarche & Richard Sicotte, 2019. "Strategic Bidding And Contract Renegotiation," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 60(2), pages 801-820, May.
    3. Masten, Scott E & Meehan, James W, Jr & Snyder, Edward A, 1991. "The Costs of Organization," The Journal of Law, Economics, and Organization, Oxford University Press, vol. 7(1), pages 1-25, Spring.
    4. De Silva, Dakshina G. & Kosmopoulou, Georgia & Lamarche, Carlos, 2017. "Subcontracting and the survival of plants in the road construction industry: A panel quantile regression analysis," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 137(C), pages 113-131.
    5. Nicholas Christakis & James Fowler & Guido Imbens & Karthik Kalyanaraman, 2010. "An empirical model for strategic network formation," CeMMAP working papers CWP16/10, Centre for Microdata Methods and Practice, Institute for Fiscal Studies.
    6. Justin Marion, 2015. "Sourcing from the Enemy: Horizontal Subcontracting in Highway Procurement," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 63(1), pages 100-128, March.
    7. Patrick Bajari & Stephanie Houghton & Steven Tadelis, 2014. "Bidding for Incomplete Contracts: An Empirical Analysis of Adaptation Costs," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 104(4), pages 1288-1319, April.
    8. Justin Marion, 2009. "How Costly Is Affirmative Action? Government Contracting and California's Proposition 209," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 91(3), pages 503-522, August.
    9. Daniel P. Miller, 2014. "Subcontracting and competitive bidding on incomplete procurement contracts," RAND Journal of Economics, RAND Corporation, vol. 45(4), pages 705-746, December.
    10. Nicola Branzoli & Francesco Decarolis, 2015. "Entry and Subcontracting in Public Procurement Auctions," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 61(12), pages 2945-2962, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Benjamin V Rosa, 2024. "Subcontracting requirements and the cost of government procurement," RAND Journal of Economics, RAND Corporation, vol. 55(1), pages 3-32, March.
    2. De Silva, Dakshina G. & Kosmopoulou, Georgia & Lamarche, Carlos, 2017. "Subcontracting and the survival of plants in the road construction industry: A panel quantile regression analysis," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 137(C), pages 113-131.
    3. B. Cesi & M. Lorusso, 2020. "Collusion in public procurement: the role of subcontracting," Economia Politica: Journal of Analytical and Institutional Economics, Springer;Fondazione Edison, vol. 37(1), pages 251-265, April.
    4. Matilde Cappelletti & Leonardo M. Giuffrida & Leonardo Maria Giuffrida, 2024. "Targeted Bidders in Government Tenders," CESifo Working Paper Series 11142, CESifo.
    5. Laura Rondi & Paola Valbonesi, 2017. "Pre- and post-award outsourcing: Temporary partnership versus subcontracting in public procurement," "Marco Fanno" Working Papers 0211, Dipartimento di Scienze Economiche "Marco Fanno".
    6. Bouckaert, Jan & Van Moer, Geert, 2021. "Joint bidding and horizontal subcontracting," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).
    7. Luigi Moretti & Paola Valbonesi, 2012. "Subcontracting in Public Procurement: An Empirical Investigation," "Marco Fanno" Working Papers 0154, Dipartimento di Scienze Economiche "Marco Fanno".
    8. Seres, G. & Pigon, Adam, 2019. "On the Competitive Effects of Screening in Procurement," Discussion Paper 2019-009, Tilburg University, Tilburg Law and Economic Center.
    9. Leonardo M. Giuffrida & Gabriele Rovigatti, 2017. "Can the Private Sector Ensure the Public Interest? Evidence from Federal Procurement," CEIS Research Paper 411, Tor Vergata University, CEIS, revised 20 Jul 2017.
    10. BOUCKAERT, Jan & VAN MOER, Geert, 2022. "When rivals team up in procurement: does it distort competition?," Working Papers 2022001, University of Antwerp, Faculty of Business and Economics.
    11. Lei He & Georgia Kosmopoulou, 2021. "Subcontracting Network Formation Among U.S. Airline Carriers," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 69(4), pages 817-853, December.
    12. Seres, G. & Pigon, Adam, 2019. "On the Competitive Effects of Screening in Procurement," Other publications TiSEM 78e45bf6-3a0a-46a0-9abd-7, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    13. Seres, G. & Pigon, Adam, 2019. "On the Competitive Effects of Screening in Procurement," Other publications TiSEM 3314c398-ea79-4f74-96f4-8, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    14. De Silva, Dakshina G. & Hubbard, Timothy P. & Kosmopoulou, Georgia, 2020. "An evaluation of a bidder training program," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 72(C).
    15. Gil, Ricard & Marion, Justin, 2009. "The Role of Repeated Interactions, Self-Enforcing Agreements and Relational [Sub]Contracting: Evidence from California Highway Procurement Auctions," University of California Transportation Center, Working Papers qt66z0w84p, University of California Transportation Center.
    16. Dakshina G. De Silva & Timothy Dunne & Georgia Kosmopoulou & Carlos Lamarche, 2015. "Project modifications and bidding in highway procurement auctions," FRB Atlanta Working Paper 2015-14, Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta.
    17. Francesco Decarolis & Cristina Giorgiantonio, 2014. "Qualificazione, aggiudicazione e subappalti nei lavori pubblici: cosa insegnano le riforme locali?," ECONOMIA PUBBLICA, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 2014(1), pages 28-64.
    18. Rosa, Benjamin V., 2020. "Affirmative action subcontracting regulations in dynamic procurement auctions," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 72(C).
    19. Wenzheng Gao & Daiqiang Zhang & Naibao Zhao, 2021. "Uncertainty In Procurement Contracting With Time Incentives," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 62(3), pages 1153-1197, August.
    20. Rosa, Benjamin, 2022. "Diversity versus Equity in Government Contracting," MPRA Paper 114765, University Library of Munich, Germany.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:ecinqu:v:60:y:2022:i:1:p:247-264. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/weaaaea.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.