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Diversity versus Equity in Government Contracting

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  • Rosa, Benjamin

Abstract

Many governments aim to give disadvantaged firms an equal opportunity to compete for government contracts and will use diversity in awards as a measure of success. I show theoretically that, when ex ante identical disadvantaged firms differ in an identifiable but irrelevant characteristic, diversity in awards may not translate into equity in opportunity—as buyers may discriminate within the disadvantaged group. Subcontracting data on Disadvantaged Business Enterprises in New Mexico show that inequities can arise in practice.

Suggested Citation

  • Rosa, Benjamin, 2022. "Diversity versus Equity in Government Contracting," MPRA Paper 114765, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    • Handle: RePEc:pra:mprapa:114765
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Moro, Andrea & Norman, Peter, 2004. "A general equilibrium model of statistical discrimination," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 114(1), pages 1-30, January.
    2. Roland Fryer & Glenn Loury, 2005. "Affirmative action in winner-take-all markets," The Journal of Economic Inequality, Springer;Society for the Study of Economic Inequality, vol. 3(3), pages 263-280, December.
    3. Susan Athey & Dominic Coey & Jonathan Levin, 2013. "Set-Asides and Subsidies in Auctions," American Economic Journal: Microeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 5(1), pages 1-27, February.
    4. 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.
    5. Guha, Brishti & Roy Chowdhury, Prabal, 2022. "Affirmative action in the presence of income heterogeneity," Games and Economic Behavior, Elsevier, vol. 132(C), pages 510-533.
    6. Fryer, Roland Jr., 2007. "Belief flipping in a dynamic model of statistical discrimination," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 91(5-6), pages 1151-1166, June.
    7. Coate, Stephen & Loury, Glenn C, 1993. "Will Affirmative-Action Policies Eliminate Negative Stereotypes?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 83(5), pages 1220-1240, December.
    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. 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).
    10. Hanming Fang & Peter Norman, 2006. "Government-Mandated Discriminatory Policies: Theory And Evidence," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 47(2), pages 361-389, May.
    11. Fryer, Roland, 2007. "Belief Flipping in a Dynamic Model of Statistical Discrimination," Scholarly Articles 2955768, Harvard University Department of Economics.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Affirmative action; statistical discrimination; government contracting.;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D63 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - Equity, Justice, Inequality, and Other Normative Criteria and Measurement
    • H57 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies - - - Procurement
    • J71 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor Discrimination - - - Hiring and Firing
    • L24 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Contracting Out; Joint Ventures

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