CFPB Economic Research

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau established this Master IDIQ on June 10, 2015, to build economic laboratory research capacity through contractor partnerships; ordering closed on June 10, 2019, and the vehicle is no longer active.

The CFPB procured directed research projects supporting two components: the ability to conduct economic laboratory experiments under CFPB guidance, and resources to enable CFPB researchers to execute experiments independently. Task orders funded tests of disclosure effectiveness, economic theory exploration, and behavioral studies in consumer financial decision-making contexts. Representative work included tiered disclosure experiments, credit card debt data collection, and consumer financial decision-making research. All eight task orders were firm-fixed-price delivery orders with no set-aside designation.

Gettysburg College and Fors Marsh Group LLC dominated the award portfolio by order count, with four and two orders respectively. However, by potential value, the leadership shifted: President and Fellows of Middlebury College held the single largest order at $110 thousand, followed by 2M Research Services LLC at $89 thousand. The vehicle concentrated work narrowly among four primes; no single firm captured a majority by potential value, though Gettysburg College's four orders suggest it held preferred status operationally. All task orders flowed to the CFPB as the sole customer.

The vehicle obligated $339 thousand of its $800 thousand shared ceiling, achieving 97 percent consumption. Task orders ranged from approximately $15 thousand to $110 thousand in potential value, with most clustered in the $20–$90 thousand range. Activity peaked in 2018 with four awards; prior years averaged one order annually. The most recent task order closed on September 19, 2018, making the vehicle dormant for over seven years. No future ordering opportunities remain.

In order to develop the Office of Research's research capacity the CFPB seeks a contractors with both: the ability to build and execute economic laboratory experiments under the guidance of CFPB researchers; and to provide CFPB researchers with the resources necessary for them to build and execute economic laboratory experiments. This collaboration will result in a series of directed research projects. This research capacity can be used for tests of disclosure, tests and explorations of economic theory, and the exploration of behavioral regularities in various economic contexts.