Federal Research and Development Contract Trends and the Supporting Industrial Base, 2000-2014
Abstract
As the current budget drawdown has progressed, numerous policy makers and informed observers have expressed concerns about the effect on federal research and development (R and D) efforts. Across the federal government, but particularly within the Department of Defense (DoD), there have been fears that the sharp downturn in federal contract obligations would disproportionately impact the R and D contracting portfolios within individual agencies and their major components. Looking at the period from 20002014, this report examines data for the four major R and D contracting agencies: the DoD, NASA, the HHS, and the Department of Energy. It also examines four hypotheses, generated by the study team from a review of the literature and consultation with experts, that test how the budget drawdown has affected the R and D contracting portfolios, and the industrial base that supports those efforts, within each R and D contracting agency. The main finding of this initial inquiry is that the conventional wisdom regarding how R and D contracting would be affected by the budget drawdown has not been borne out. Early stage,seed corn R and D has been relatively protected, cuts were not done within agencies on a salami slice basis, and large prime vendors have seen their shares of the federal R and D contracting market decline precipitously.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Apr 30, 2016
- Accession Number
- AD1016750
Entities
People
- Andrew Hunter
- Gregory Sanders
- Jesse Ellman
- Kaitlyn Johnson
Organizations
- Center for Strategic and International Studies