Contract Pricing: Dual-Source Contract Prices

Abstract

It is a pleasure to be here today to discuss Department of Defense (DOD) dual-source contracting. Dual-source contracting is a procurement technique in which the total government requirement is split between two contractors, with the larger share normally going to the low bidder and the smaller share to the high bidder. Thus, it is generally not a "winner-take-all" competition. In recent years, DOD has turned to dual-source contracting as a means of increasing competition in defense procurement and lowering contract prices. At Senator Roth's request, we recently completed a review of dual-source contracts. Our review was directed at determining whether DOD contracting officers had sound bases for negotiating fair and reasonable contract prices. We did not attempt to determine the extent of savings resulting from dual-source contracting or whether dual-source contracting improves the industrial mobilization base, which is another of its potential benefits.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Nov 15, 1989
Accession Number
AD1106046

Entities

People

  • Paul F. Math

Organizations

  • United States Government Accountability Office

Tags

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Accounting
  • Acquisition
  • Addressing
  • Competition
  • Contract Administration
  • Contractors
  • Contracts
  • Department Of Defense
  • Environment
  • Governments
  • Guidance
  • Industrial Mobilization
  • Materials
  • Mobilization
  • National Security
  • Negotiations
  • Procurement
  • Security
  • Test And Evaluation
  • Test Methods
  • United States

Readers

  • Acoustics.
  • Defense Financial Management and Audit.
  • Industrial Economics