that occur each year, and the number of protests filed each year. Regarding the denominator, perhaps surprisingly, there are not good statistics on the number of federal procurements that occur each year. Any such count would need to include, not only the number of contracts awarded, but also any task and delivery orders awarded that can be protested. The latter includes all orders placed under the GSA Federal Supply Schedule and orders issued under multiple-awarded indefinite-delivery, contracts, where the orders have a value above $10 million. A recent RAND Corporation study of Air Force procurements that were protested to GAO indicated that approximately 20,000 contracts with a value above $25,000 were awarded by the Air Force in 2008, representing approximately $63 billion. Since overall procurement spending in 2008 was over $500 billion (eight times the amount spent by the Air Force alone), that would suggest that the overall number of contracts awarded was approximately 160,000. The author suspects that the number is low and that a better estimate, including FSS orders and ID/IQ orders above $10 million, would probably substantially exceed 250,000. For the purpose of the analysis in this paper, it will be assumed that the total number of federal contracts and protestable orders awarded in a year is 200,000.
that occur each year, and the number of protests filed each year. Regarding the denominator, perhaps surprisingly, there are not good statistics on the number of federal procurements that occur each year. Any such count would need to include, not only the number of contracts awarded, but also any task and delivery orders awarded that can be protested. The latter includes all orders placed under the GSA Federal Supply Schedule and orders issued under multiple-awarded indefinite-delivery, contracts, where the orders have a value above $10 million. A recent RAND Corporation study of Air Force procurements that were protested to GAO indicated that approximately 20,000 contracts with a value above $25,000 were awarded by the Air Force in 2008, representing approximately $63 billion. Since overall procurement spending in 2008 was over $500 billion (eight times the amount spent by the Air Force alone), that would suggest that the overall number of contracts awarded was approximately 160,000. The author suspects that the number is low and that a better estimate, including FSS orders and ID/IQ orders above $10 million, would probably substantially exceed 250,000. For the purpose of the analysis in this paper, it will be assumed that the total number of federal contracts and protestable orders awarded in a year is 200,000.
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