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Outsourcing is an important strategic decision of high-tech firms. However, while the research has extensively studied the implications of outsourcing to high-tech clients, its impact on high-tech vendors remains underexplored. This study empirically estimates the impact of government outsourcing contracts on high-tech vendors. Employing the earnings-return analyses framework, we find that, for high-tech vendors engaged in government outsourcing contracts, the stock market places a higher value on each unit of unexpected earnings compared to other firms. Additionally, this impact becomes stronger for contracts with longer terms, for contracts outsourced by the U.S. government or by countries with better political and economical stability. We obtain causal evidence through difference-in-differences (DID) analyses of high-tech firms' initiations of government contracts. Mechanism analyses uncover two primary drivers behind this impact: increased persistence of future earnings and improved alignment between accrual earnings and cash flows. Overall, our research indicates that when valuing high-tech firms, the stock market incorporates information from supply-chain networks, especially that related to government customers. Our results underscore the importance of obtaining government outsourcing contracts for high-tech firms' managers. Becoming a vendor to the government helps a high-tech firm reduce the uncertainty faced by its outside investors, who in turn value the high-tech firm's earnings to a greater extent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates whether and how firms receiving benefits through their connections to politicians use accounting discretion to mitigate the costs associated with negative publicity. I utilize a unique setting that captures the change in political costs arising from chairmanship appointments to influential U.S. Senate committees. Firms in the home state of a promoted officeholder often receive preferential treatment, drawing public scrutiny and incentivizing them to avoid reporting extreme earnings through income smoothing to reduce adverse political attention. Employing a difference-in-differences research design, I find evidence that home-state firms smooth their earnings throughout the officeholder's tenure following a senator's promotion to chairman or ranking minority member. Cross-sectional analyses demonstrate that these effects are stronger for firms anticipating higher political costs. Overall, this paper provides evidence of the political cost hypothesis, highlighting the role of political connections in shaping firms' financial reporting strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We examine whether corporate political donations (CPDs) are associated with audit fees in the Australian setting. Our baseline results based on observations of Australian top 500 non‐financial companies show that, on average, firms with CPDs are associated with about 9% lower audit fees than firms without CPDs consistent with the strategic investment or resource dependency view. Using path analysis, we next show that high earnings quality resulting from strategic benefits of CPDs explains the association. Overall, these results confirm that firms use CPDs as strategic investments that are associated with lower earnings management, which leads to lower audit risk and hence reduced audit fees. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Between 1995 and 2021, the United States' Federal Government imposed $162.5 billion in penalties upon government contractors who had engaged in improper behavior as part of the procurement process. Despite the enormity of contractor misbehavior, the characteristics associated with contractor misconduct are relatively underexplored in academic literature. In this study, we examine whether and to what extent firm characteristics predict federal government contractor misbehaviors, which range from minor statutory violations to fraud. We document a consistent association between contractor characteristics (size and total amount of government contracts received), contract-specific characteristics (service-type contracts and awarding agencies GSA and DOE), and the act of committing misconduct. Misconduct severity increases in size and total amount of government contracts, is not affected by service contracts, and has an inverse U-shape for government agencies. Taken together, our results suggest that characteristics of the contractor, contract, and government agency are predictably associated with committing procurement misconduct. Data Availability: Data are available from the public sources cited in the text. JEL Classifications: H11; H57; M41. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Topics concerning government contracts have recently attracted much attention from researchers and the public because of the US government's significant spending on goods and services. In this study, we investigate whether audit fees are associated with audit clients' government contracts. We find that firms with a higher proportion of government sales to total sales pay higher audit fees than other firms. Our further analysis shows the audit premium is driven mainly by the federal government and local government contracts. We also show that local government contracts have a larger effect than federal government contracts on the determination of audit fees. Taken together, our findings enhance our understanding of a potential determinant of audit fees and imply that auditors may view firms with and without government contracts differently. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines insider lobbying as a form of relational Corporate Political Activity (CPA) that can be used by firms to gain an advantage in the competition for government contracts, and how firm size moderates the effectiveness of different insider lobbying strategies. Drawing on a unique dataset that captures meetings between private companies and British government ministers, we find that both the breadth and depth of insider lobbying are positively related to the value of the contracts awarded by the UK Ministry of Defence. Further analysis reveals that the benefits from a strategy of lobbying depth are stronger for small firms, than those from a strategy of lobbying breadth. The findings suggest that the bridging and bonding social capital cultivated through meetings with politicians can be deployed in alternative ways by different‐sized firms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We examine the effect of political embeddedness on environmental management practices and identify different channels for this relationship. We find that politically embedded firms are less exposed to coercive pressure, but have higher normative and mimetic pressures to engage in environmental management. Additionally, normative and mimetic pressures are higher for firms operating in a more competitive market, whereas oligopolistic firms are subject to higher coercive pressure. Our findings support both legitimacy theory which argues that political embeddedness shields firms from environmental regulations, as well as control‐based theories arguing that politically embedded firms should perform better in environmental management. We also demonstrate that market‐based incentives are especially important to induce politically embedded firms to adopt environmental practices when regulatory pressure does not work well. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Innovation policy combines systems and organizations that may intentionally or unintentionally influence innovation. Public Procurement and innovation are associated in two separate ways: public procurement can be used as a tool to stimulate innovation resulting in a new type of product or to open the marketplace for innovation without a specific product. The purpose of this article is to examine the procurement process's emphasis on competition and its effects on innovative products and services. By applying the public procurement and innovation policy goals, the demand can be met as a cost‐effective and value‐adding asset. We argue that public–private partnerships could (and should) leverage the private sector for innovative solutions; however, the current structure of policy and demand does not encourage this relationship. Related Articles: Fowler, Luke. 2019. "Obstacles and Motivators for Partnership Formation in a Multidimensional Environment." Politics & Policy 47(2): 267–99. https://doi.org/10.1111/polp.12293 Mitchell, Joshua L., and Adam M. Butz. 2019. "Social Control Meets New Public Management: Examining the Diffusion of State Prison Privatization, 1979‐2010." Politics & Policy 47(3): 506–44. https://doi.org/10.1111/polp.12309 Morris, John C. 2007. "Government and Market Pathologies of Privatization: The Case of Prison Privatization." Politics & Policy 35(2): 318–41. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1747‐1346.2007.00062.x [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Governments and governmental organizations have special privileges in concluding contracts to provide the public needs and protect the public interests. One of the privileges that is often addressed in Common Law systems and Commonwealth countries, and it stems from the sovereign power of the government to serve the public interests, is the “doctrine of executive necessity”. The doctrine embodies that, the government may terminate the contract without paying compensation due to some necessities such as policy changes in safeguarding public interests. By singling out the doctrine of executive necessity from similar concepts such as termination by convenience, nationalization, expropriation and force majeure and with having an analytic view in government contracts institution in legal system of Iran and by examining related Acts and Regulations, the existing gaps will be revealed and a proposal will be made to legalize government activities under the contract.

We propose a comprehensive model for hedging risks at enterprises within the military–industrial complex on the basis of futures contracts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Russia is currently implementing a policy of import substitution. Although some positive results have been achieved (e.g., in the agricultural industry and the pharmaceutical industry), there are still significant problems with the current approach. The present article considers the successes and challenges of Russia's current import substitution policy and offers several solutions that should facilitate significant economic growth. In particular, we argue that a systematic approach to import substitution should focus on stimulating the industrial base through government regulation and support, which is better than the present policy of maintaining a relatively unregulated domestic free market and relying on the import of foreign technology. This article reviews several arguments in favor and against this approach and concludes that under current economic conditions, the best way forward for the Russian economy involves the transition to a system-strategic approach to import substitution, which requires a reevaluation of macroeconomic policy and the rejection of certain liberal principles (e.g., rigid monetary policy, floating exchange rates, and abstaining from currency restrictions). In light of foreign experience, we argue that this model has been successfully implemented in countries that are currently technological leaders in global value chains and that this model can likewise help Russia develop its industrial base. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of College of Law Journal for Legal & Political Sciences / Magallat Kulliyyat Al-Qanun Li-L-ulum Al-Qanuniyyat Wa-Al-Siyasiyyat is the property of Republic of Iraq Ministry of Higher Education & Scientific Research (MOHESR) and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of College of Law Journal for Legal & Political Sciences / Magallat Kulliyyat Al-Qanun Li-L-ulum Al-Qanuniyyat Wa-Al-Siyasiyyat is the property of Republic of Iraq Ministry of Higher Education & Scientific Research (MOHESR) and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Although corporate political activity (CPA) may enable firms to achieve sought-after public policy outcomes that benefit firms' bottom line, this is most likely when exchanges yielding firm-level benefits are opaque. The government contracting arena is highly opaque to outsiders, and firms competing for such contracts avoid political attention to maintain this opacity. Yet, in exploring factors that disrupt opacity and reduce CPA efficacy, scholarship has primarily investigated political issue salience or political issue visibility. However, firms operate within a broader, nonpolitical information environment, and scholarship has ignored how such information may disrupt the value-generation potential of political exchange opacity. We thus question whether nonpolitical outside attention to politically active firms disrupts political exchange opacity and affects firms' ability to use CPA to receive government contracts. Further, we explore how the affective tenor or tone of media reporting impacts firms' ability to influence government contract awards through CPA. Using a 16-year longitudinal analysis, we discover that both general media visibility and positive media reputation negatively moderate the CPA–contract awards association. The findings expand existing literature by uncovering how general media attention and media reputation may draw attention to political exchange participants, and impact firm CPA efficacy in achieving tangible outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract. The paper studies the historical and legal background of the formation and development of government procurement in Ukraine. It analyzes the essence and significance of public procurement for the effective development of budgetary enterprises, institutions and organizations in different historical periods. It has been established that public procurement took various forms long before the independence of Ukraine. State orders are considered in the context of the broader problem of state regulation of the economy, namely one of the most serious and ambiguous economic problems is the rational interaction of the state and the market system in the process of public procurement. It is substantiated that a full-fledged national economy largely depends on how transparent and economically justified public expenditures on the maintenance of institutions financed from the state budget. Detected that one of the most promising ways to implement the concept of rational and efficient use of budget funds is the widespread introduction of a single structured system in the procurement of goods, works and services for public needs, based on competition, transparency, non-discrimination and decentralization. The paper reviews specifics of legislative regulation of public procurement in the relevant periods. The stage of transition of the system of centralized production planning, distribution of material and technical resources, the function of the state order as an absolute state regulator in the production of products and services to the means of meeting the needs of material resources, products, works and services of consumers supported by the state budget. It identifies the main differences in the approaches to understanding the essence of public procurement. The paper provides a detailed description of the influence of factors and circumstances on the development of the legal framework of public procurement. It determines and substantiates government procurement development periods. The paper analyzes the negative effects of omissions and non-finalization of the legal framework of each respective period. It studies the methods of and reasons for changing the terminology in the formation of the conceptual apparatus of the modern legal framework. Conclusions on changes, additions and adjustments to the legal framework of public procurement are provided. The paper assesses the main differences between the adopted public procurement laws. Keywords: government procurement, public procurement, tender, government contracts. Formulas: 0; fig.: 0; tabl.: 2; bibl.: 10.

The article discusses the England and Wales Court of Appeal case Serious Fraud Office v. G4S Care and Justice Services (UK) Ltd., with topics that include fraud, deferred prosecution agreements, and government contracts.

The government requires its suppliers to have certain internal information processes to reduce uncertainty about their ability to fulfill their commitments. I argue that these requirements improve suppliers' internal information, which leads to better external reporting. Using a dataset of U.S. government contracts, I find a positive relation between government contract awards and firms' external reporting quality. Consistent with procurement-related requirements driving this relation, I find that firms improve their external reporting when they begin contracting with the government, and that the magnitude of the improvement varies predictably with contract characteristics imposing greater requirements on contractors' internal information processes. Finally, I use the establishment of the Cost Accounting Standards Board in 1970 as a shock to contractors' internal information requirements, and find greater improvements in external reporting among firms subject to the CASB. Overall, these results suggest that the government as a customer contributes to shaping firms' information environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper studies the historical and legal background of the formation and development of government procurement in Ukraine. It analyzes the essence and significance of public procurement for the effective development of budgetary enterprises, institutions and organizations in different historical periods. It has been established that public procurement took various forms long before the independence of Ukraine. State orders are considered in the context of the broader problem of state regulation of the economy, namely one of the most serious and ambiguous economic problems is the rational interaction of the state and the market system in the process of public procurement. It is substantiated that a full-fledged national economy largely depends on how transparent and economically justified public expenditures on the maintenance of institutions financed from the state budget. Detected that one of the most promising ways to implement the concept of rational and efficient use of budget funds is the widespread introduction of a single structured system in the procurement of goods, works and services for public needs, based on competition, transparency, non-discrimination and decentralization. The paper reviews specifics of legislative regulation of public procurement in the relevant periods. The stage of transition of the system of centralized production planning, distribution of material and technical resources, the function of the state order as an absolute state regulator in the production of products and services to the means of meeting the needs of material resources, products, works and services of consumers supported by the state budget. It identifies the main differences in the approaches to understanding the essence of public procurement. The paper provides a detailed description of the influence of factors and circumstances on the development of the legal framework of public procurement. It determines and substantiates government procurement development periods. The paper analyzes the negative effects of omissions and non-finalization of the legal framework of each respective period. It studies the methods of and reasons for changing the terminology in the formation of the conceptual apparatus of the modern legal framework. Conclusions on changes, additions and adjustments to the legal framework of public procurement are provided. The paper assesses the main differences between the adopted public procurement laws. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Problems of development of small and average business in Russia due to the lack of support from the state, including in the procedures of the state order. Reforming the regulatory frame-work of public procurement (orders of state and municipal authorities on goods, services, works) will seek the involvement of small and medium-sized businesses in tenders and auctions for the procurement for the needs of the state. The adoption of a new law on contract system 44-FZ partially solves the problems of the organization of public procurement, the system of motivation of participation of SMEs in tenders, however, several questions still remains unresolved. A significant step in improving loyalty to small and medium-sized business is the requirement from 2014 at least 15% of government purchases be made through these entities. However increasing requirements for small businesses in terms of disclosure of reliable financial information about its activities, providing security for the entire period of the contracts. This partially solve the problem by attracting Bank guarantees, Bank lending, loans through microfinance organizations, credit brokers, which significantly increases the burden on entrepreneurs, which would ultimately refuse to participate in the auction. However, entrepreneurs still participate in bidding, performing the contract system, responding by the increased obligations of financial institutions, which proves the potentials of this sector of the economy and its stability. Subsequent conversions in this area should primarily be directed at easing the requirements for bidders, the ordering procedure involving collateral contract and reduce the demands from the financial institutions.

Delivery high-quality services to people in a wide range of social fields and improve the most living standards are considered the main objectives for any government. Many countries, including the UK, felt the need for managerial reforms in the public sector after the global economic crisis, and several steps were taken to introduce new managerial public administration including the private sector involvement which was the only practical solution to encourage national economic growth. However, it was witnessed that the UK government could not successfully complete some of its projects carried out with private sectors, resulting in the waste of financial resources and effect negatively on the quality services delivered to people. This paper therefore aims to highlight the pros/cons of UK government contracts in order to propose various suggestions for the promotion of public private partnership (PPP), and for effective management of these contracts that will prevent the wasting of public money. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In a 1991–2013 sample of bonds issued by US public firms, we find that the cost of debt (yield spread relative to comparable Treasuries) of suppliers to government agencies is contingent on the strategic importance of the supplier's industry. The yield spreads for strategically unimportant government suppliers are higher than for firms that are not government suppliers. If government contracts serve as tangible evidence of political connections, these higher yield spreads indicate that weaker corporate governance as a cost of political connections outweighs the benefits of said connections. For the subsample of government suppliers from strategically important industries, where the benefits of implicit bailout guarantees and revenue stability outweigh the corporate governance problems, the cost of debt is lower than for firms that are not government suppliers. The higher (lower) cost of debt for strategically unimportant (strategically important) suppliers is confined to contracting with the federal government. Our findings are robust to alternative variable and sample specifications, and to endogeneity concerns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The formation of the contract system in the Russian Federation aimed mostly at significant improval of the efficiency and effectiveness of budget allocations for government contract payments brought into limelight the importance of the state needs, their place and role in the system of economic relations. The relevance of the topic is determined, firstly, by the lack of theoretical research into the state needs and conceptual approaches to the formation of common understanding of the effectiveness of government contract payments. Secondly, there are gaps in the legislation and law conflicts in respect of the state needs interpretation, government procurements, and, finally, government contracts. The interrelation between the state needs, procurements and contracts is analyzed. The definitions of the concepts under consideration are suggested; government procurement functions are identified, the main ones being support of the state needs and the regulatory function; the specifics of each function are described. It is concluded that the effective financial support of the state needs is impossible unless social needs are determined.The conclusions proposed can be used in the implementation of the mid- and long-term budget planning and running the fiscal policy of the Russian Federation. A similar approach will allow a higher effectiveness of using budget funds for government contract payments and promotion of needed reforms in the current legislation.

Among the solutions devised by early modern Western European states to engage with the private sector in the governance of their overseas empires, the adjudication of revenue farms and colonial monopolies was often dismissed by historians on the grounds of being coercive, inefficient, and risk-exempt for the contractors. In reality, however, the threat of financial hardship and insolvency was very real, and not infrequently led to contractual removal, the seizure of collateralized assets, and even the imprisonment of the concessionaires. This article approaches the neglected topic of failure in big business in early seventeenth-century Portugal, an overlooked case of a contractor state that relied extensively on the adjudication of government contracts to finance and rule its overseas empire. By looking into the downward trajectories of two tax-farmers and the collapse of their contractual dealings, light will be shed on how the Crown and private entrepreneurs reacted to the repercussions of failure in these early modern public-private partnerships. It will also be shown how the road leading to termination was very much shaped by the political relationships between the Crown and its contractors and can only be understood in the context of wider relationships of brokerage, credit, and service between the two. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AbstractThis paper seeks to explore the public-private partnership initiative and salient provisions of government contracts in Malaysia. This paper further examines some areas of concern emphasising on a land swap type of contract. There are still many other provisions that need to be addressed for example on obligations, design and constructions, choosing the right type of contracts, operations and maintenance, sub-contracts, relief events, liability and damages, performance security, default and termination and dispute resolutions which is not dealt in this paper.

Abstract: This study endeavors to enhance political marketing literature about the impact of lobbying on firm performance. Our sample is composed of 140 U.S. firms and spans the years 2007–2014 to encompass the 2007–2009 recession and the subsequent recovery period. Our findings indicate that lobbying expenses positively contribute to firm performance. Also, government contracts in both ways, dollar amount and number of government contracts, act as mediators between lobbying expenses and firm performance. In addition, organizational slack moderates the relationship between lobbying expenses and government contracts. The managerial implications suggest that lobbying expenses can be leveraged as a potent tool for firm performance. Firms with larger lobbying efforts acquired both, higher dollar amounts and a greater number of government contracts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Russia is currently implementing a policy of import substitution. Although some positive results have been achieved (e.g., in the agricultural industry and the pharmaceutical industry), there are still significant problems with the current approach. The present article considers the successes and challenges of Russia's current import substitution policy and offers several solutions that should facilitate significant economic growth. In particular, we argue that a systematic approach to import substitution should focus on stimulating the industrial base through government regulation and support, which is better than the present policy of maintaining a relatively unregulated domestic free market and relying on the import of foreign technology. This article reviews several arguments in favor and against this approach and concludes that under current economic conditions, the best way forward for the Russian economy involves the transition to a system-strategic approach to import substitution, which requires a reevaluation of macroeconomic policy and the rejection of certain liberal principles (e.g., rigid monetary policy, floating exchange rates, and abstaining from currency restrictions). In light of foreign experience, we argue that this model has been successfully implemented in countries that are currently technological leaders in global value chains and that this model can likewise help Russia develop its industrial base. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents the findings from a small qualitative study of Refugee Settlement Service (RSS) workers under Australia’s Humanitarian Settlement Services and Settlement Grants Program. Managers and front-line workers from five Refugee Settlement Services in rural and urban New South Wales were interviewed to examine the impact of new Government funding structures and contracts on the delivery of services and supports to newly arrived refugees. The comparative findings show that the Government’s contractual arrangements impact Refugee Settlement Services in different ways; ultimately prioritising market-like structures and undermining their core service roles. We argue that improving the relationship between Government and Refugee Settlement Services is critical to successful refugee settlement. IMPLICATIONSSuccessful refugee settlement requires greater flexibility and responsiveness in rural and urban Refugee Settlement Service (RSSs).RSSs require increased autonomy and control over funding to enable locally responsive service provision for newly arrived refugees. 本文是对澳大利亚人道主义居留服务局和居留资助计划下辖难民居留服务处工作人员的小型定量研究。作者对新南威尔士城乡五个难民居留服务处的管理者和一线工作人员进行了访谈，以探讨新的政府基金结构以及新来难民服务发放的合同都产生了哪些影响。根据作者的比较研究，政府的合同安排对难民居留服务处有不同影响，最终突出了市场式的结构，并弱化了其核心服务的角色。文章指出，改善政府与难民居留服务处的关系对于成功的难民居留至关重要。 [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]