Actual Obligations Versus Comptroller Projected Obligations Rates
Abstract
U.S. Foreign Military Sales (FMS) are a topic of keen interest to policy makers and industry leaders. This interest has been heightened in a defense budget-capped environment, as industry looks abroad for revenue growth and government program managers look to capitalize on budget savings from overseas sales such as lower production unit costs and shared support costs. However, international exports also bring challenges, such as the risk of complications in meeting foreign requirements, potential instability in international demand, blocks by Congress or the Executive branch, and technology proliferation. Acquisition policies attempt to thread this needle, for example through design for exportability, which encourages consideration of exportability features and anti-tamper measures early the lifecycle of a program. This project will examine how export participation affects acquisition outcomes. Past research has validated cost savings from exports but there are many questions left to explore (e.g. are exports to countries that are not formal U.S. allies at higher risk of contract termination? do programs that begin exporting early in their lifecycle have fewer change orders than those that start exporting later?). However, deeper examinations are restrained by disparate and limited data reporting that hinders the ability of researchers to draw meaningful conclusions about the merits of export participation. The study team would take on this challenge by creating and analyzing a dataset of FMS contracts in the Federal Procurement Data System (FPDS), a publicly available database of federal contracts. Because FMS is delivered using the federal government s acquisition system, these contracts are reported in a common format and made public. The proposed research effort would proceed in three stages. In the first stage, CSIS will conduct an extensive review of the relevant literature to develop hypotheses on the interaction of FMS participation and defense acquisition. CSIS will also gather information from the Defense Security Cooperation Agency to understand topline FMS trends. In the second stage, the study team will identify and label FMS contracts within FPDS and evaluate data completeness by comparing these contracts with phase one findings, budget documents, and data from outside researchers. The study team will also finalize hypotheses derived from the literature review and operationalized using FPDS data. In the final stage of the project, the study team will test hypotheses regarding performance impacts of exporting and differentiators among FMS programs. This proposed research effo1i will neither involve nor require any substantial involvement by the Government. The outcome of this research effort will better inform industry on the benefits and trade-offs from participating in the FMS system, help industry develop business plans for international sales, and understand the implications of using the FMS system versus other alternatives. Additionally, this research would be a significant contribution to the public administration literature on contracting, economics, and project management.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Nov 22, 2019
- Source ID
- HQ00341810015
Entities
People
- Todd Harrison
Organizations
- Center for Strategic and International Studies
- Office of the Secretary of Defense