An Analysis of the Relationship of Reliability Improvement Warranties (RIW) to Interfirm Competition in DoD Avionics Procurements.

摘要

The reliability improvement warranty (RIW) is a relatively new procurement concept which may potentially make a significant contribution to the Department of Defense (DOD) goal of lowering the life cycle costs of weapons systems. A major factor delaying full scale application of the RIW concept is uncertainty concerning the impact that widespread usage would have on competition for DOD procurements. This study was limited to a comparison of the six existing military RIW contracts for avionics units with a sample of contracts for similar items without the RIW provisions, to determine if any difference in the degree of competition existed. The variables used to measure the degree of competition were the number of contractors vying for the contract award and the variability of the proposed prices. The results of the study indicated that the degree of competition for contracts containing RIW clauses did not differ significantly from that of the contracts without RIW clauses. (Author)