SOS: Can Consolidation for Fiscal Efficiency Lead to Bigger Risks?

I will be brief in my plea for help on my current working project. I am making an argument in a paper that although consolidation of programs and streamlining processes might lead to fiscal efficiencies, these state and local policy efforts may also be promoting hidden fragilities and greater risks that might result in future higher public costs or negative ripple effects in the private sector. My problem: I need examples of this possibility, and hence I am calling upon your help.

Do any of you know of a specific instance where your state, locale, or institution has “transformed” the purchasing or procurement process only to find that the total costs are more to do what was done previously? Maybe you know of instances when employees were jettisoned or programs consolidated in the name of fiscal efficiency and later found that the money saved in the short-run actually led to higher overall costs in the intermediate or long-term? Perhaps a service was contracted out privately that was later found to be better provided by public bureaucracy? Maybe there was a fiscal impact study done by your state or local legislature that exhibited this pathology…any help is appreciated and I look forward to hearing from you. You can contact me via email at [email protected], and my sincere thanks for entertaining this request.

DR. ERIC PRIER
Associate Professor of Political Science
Senior Research Scholar, Public Procurement Research Center, FAU
3200 College Ave
Davie, FL 33314-7714
email: [email protected]

Leave a Comment

Leave a comment

Leave a Reply