Contracting and the Bureaucratic Representation of Minorities and Women: Examining Evidence From Federal Agencies

Abstract

This study examines the question of whether the extent of contracting out by U.S. federal agencies has an impact on the representation of minorities and women in those agencies. Contracting often results in reductions in force (RIF), which may occur at the lower and middle levels where there is significant representation of minorities and women. As a result, agencies that engage in higher levels of contracting may have lower levels of representation of minorities and women overall and in selected grade levels, controlling for other known determinants of minority and female representation. A panel design is employed with data on outside contracts as a proportion of each agency’s budget from 2009 to 2015. Those data are matched with a 1-year lag to data on the employment of African Americans, Hispanics, and women from 2010 to 2016. Findings indicate that contracting is associated with lower levels of African American, Hispanic, and female employment in selected grade levels.