73351019Q0064_SOW.docx

Solicitation No.

73351019Q0064 Document Title Research on Small Business Topics Using Datasets

Research on Miscellaneous Small Business Topics Using Datasets Statement of Work The U.S. Small Business Administration’s Office of Advocacy examines the role and status of small business in the economy and independently represents the views of small business to federal agencies, Congress, and the President. It is the source for small business statistics presented in user-friendly formats and it funds research into small business issues. For more information on the Office of Advocacy, including past research projects, visit https://advocacy.sba.gov/category/research/economic-reports/.

Type of contract: The Government anticipates awarding a firm-fixed price type award Location of work: To be completed by the contractor at the contractor’s facility Anticipated period of performance: Not more than one year from the award date Clearance required: None Purpose The purpose of this study is to conduct an empirical analysis on an economic issue relevant to small business.

Background The Office of Advocacy is responsible for examining the contributions and challenges of small businesses in the U.S. economy. Advocacy is constantly looking for answers to small business questions and supports research related to the role of entrepreneurship in the economy and the examination of various issues of relevance to small business owners. To this end the Office of Advocacy seeks projects that increase the base of knowledge about the state of small businesses as well as major issues facing small businesses.

Scope Overview

1. Any additional terms must be submitted with the quote. No additional terms or agreements will be considered following award.

1. The research contract will incorporate by reference the contractor’s complete research quote, the complete Statement of Work (SOW), and additional documents.

1. This is a nonpersonal services contract to provide services as detailed herein and in the contractor’s complete research quote.

1. The contractor shall provide all personnel, equipment, supplies, facilities, transportation, tools, materials, supervision, and other items and non-personal services necessary to perform this service as defined in this SOW. The contractor shall perform to the standards identified in this contract.

Quote Expectations This solicitation is for empirical research. Research quotes should exhibit strong knowledge of the research area. The hypotheses to be tested should be presented, and the data that will be used to test them should be identified. Research quotes can use a wide range of data sources. Modern statistical techniques and timely data are preferred.

Possible Topics The Office of Advocacy encourages offerors to submit quotes on topics of relevance to policymakers, academics, and small business owners. Possible topics of interest are wide-ranging and are not limited to the following:

· Workforce development issues faced by small businesses

· Small business job vacancies, finding and retaining qualified workers

· Economic impact on small business of state sales tax on e-commerce sales

· Federal contracting topics such as geographic distribution, subcontracting, minority-owned small business contracting trends and survival rates of businesses exiting small business set-aside eligibility

· Economic impact of the sharing or gig economy

· Economic impact of telecommunication polices on small businesses

· Economic impact of offshore drilling on small businesses

· Examination of small businesses in the SBIR program

· Issues related to small businesses and regulations such as regulatory impact analysis and the endangered species act

· Challenges associated with small businesses providing health insurance

· Economic impact of tax policy on small businesses

· Economic impact of housing prices on small businesses

· Economic impacts of natural disasters on small businesses in the US territories

· Small businesses in international trade such as role in service exports and how to encourage non-exporting small businesses to export

· Intellectual property issues for small businesses in industries such as music, entertainment and software

· Determining small business contributions to the U.S. economy particularly at regional/rural levels such as Puerto Rico

· Evaluating small business trends such as declining business dynamism and the decline in growth firms

· Financial impact of lawsuits against small businesses and the assessing the liability insurance market

· Determining the changing nature of competition and how small businesses are affected in key industries such as environmentally sustainable technology, the aerospace industry and small independent pharmacies

Research Methods The quote should describe the empirical methods that will be used. The use of modern statistical techniques to test hypotheses about causal relationships is preferred. Quotes involving instrumental variables should identify the instruments to be used and defend their suitability. The software that will be used to conduct the analysis should be identified. Research should be thoroughly documented and reproducible, and scripts of the analysis in statistical packages like R or Stata should be available upon request Data Sources The quote should identify the data that will be analyzed. The following list is not a comprehensive list of data sources appropriate for this research, and quotes that use the mentioned data will not necessarily be given preference (see www.sba.gov/sites/default/files/small_business_data_resources_8.8.18.pdf for a more inclusive list).

1. Annual Survey of Entrepreneurs (ASE)

1. American Community Survey (ACS)

1. Statistics of US Business (SUSB)

1. Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP)

1. Current Population Survey (CPS)

1. Survey of Business Owners (SBO)

1. Longitudinal Employer-Household Dynamics (LEHD)

1. County Business Patterns (CBP)

1. Business Employment Dynamics (BED)

1. Business Dynamics Statistics (BDS)

1. Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS)

1. National Longitudinal Surveys (NLS)

1. International Trade Administration Exporter Database

1. FDIC Call Reports

1. FDIC Summary of Deposits

1. Nonemployer Statistics (NES) Components of Finished Research The final research product should contain an executive summary, a thorough review of the current and relevant literature, discussion and description of the data and methodology, results, policy implications, and overall conclusions. The final research product should be thorough, clear, concise, and cohesive.

Deliverables Final Deliverable Schedule The following is a general set of deliverables and deadlines for the delivery of those deliverables. More specific deliverables and a more specific deliverable schedule shall be finalized following the award of the contract and shall be mutually agreed upon by the Contractor, Contracting Officer, and Contracting Officer Representative at the kick-off meeting for the contract. The deliverables and deliverable schedule shall be based on the milestones identified in this section, the accepted quote, and the specific period of performance of the contract upon award, including specific due dates within the contract term. The final deliverable schedule shall be formally amended to the contract through a modification.

Progress of Deliverables Deliverables must show significant progress relative to each previous deliverable and must be consistent with all parts of section 5 of the Statement of Work, Performance Requirements. SBA’s Office of Advocacy will not cover the costs associated with correcting rejected deliverables.

Acceptance of Deliverables The Contracting Officer Representative (COR) shall review submitted deliverables over a reasonable amount of time and shall make an express determination of whether to accept or reject the deliverable.

Detailed Contract Deliverables Milestones

a. Outline – establishes planned overarching structure for report

b. Initial Briefing – contractor presents outline, projected research path, and any preliminary findings.

a. Draft Introduction, Literature Review, & Data Discussion sections – submitted for COR and editorial review in complete or nearly complete form.

a. Draft Methodology section - submitted for COR and editorial review, including: preliminary model & results, descriptive statistics/cross-tabulations, preliminary graphics, preliminary discussion of results

b. Polished Draft Methodology section – submitted for COR and editorial review, including: polished methodology, model, results, and discussion

a. Polished Discussion, Draft Executive Summary & Policy Implications – submitted for COR and editorial review, including: polished discussion of results & graphics/tables, draft ES, draft policy implication discussion

b. First Draft including all report sections and Peer Review or External Consultation – complete first draft submitted for COR, editorial, and peer review or external consultation

a. Peer review or external consultation and COR, editorial feedback distributed – contractor will receive comments

b. Response to peer review or external consultation – submitted for COR review, including comments accepted and declined with brief explanation.

a. Final round of comments distributed – contractor will receive final substantive comments following internal review of first draft, peer review/external comments, and contractor responses to peer review/external comments.

b. Final Passbacks of Draft Report – submitted for COR and editorial review, including final revisions in response to comments/edits.

Performance Requirements General Requirements

1. The methodology and hypotheses put forth in the quote will clearly show how the research will be conducted, are binding upon award, and are expected to be reflected in the final report.

1. All research team members listed in the quote, including but not limited to subject matter and technical experts, will actively contribute through the performance of these services.

1. The resulting final submission will fully document the analysis and conclusions to fully support the position asserted.

1. The final product should contain a thorough review of the current and relevant literature, discussion of the data and findings, and overall conclusions.

1. The report should demonstrate policy relevance to current issues.

1. Deliverables as listed in the final deliverable schedule will reflect reasonable progress toward the final product and should be submitted according to final product formatting requirements, meaning all deliverables should be thoroughly proofread and edited, written clearly and concisely and free of grammatical and typographical errors.

1. For other details on the final product, see section 4 of the Statement of Work on deliverables and section 5.2 of the Statement of Work on additional requirements.

Additional Requirements Contractors must adhere to the following when submitting draft and final deliverables, with the draft and final versions completed by the listed deadlines:

Adherence to Contract Terms All submissions will be presented by the prescribed deadlines; presented under the prescribed methodology; in the prescribed format to the contracting officer’s representative (COR). Documents shall be clearly annotated and/or identified as either a draft or a final document.

Deliverables The contractor will provide the Office of Advocacy with an electronic version of the final deliverable within the contract term. All of the deliverables listed in the deliverables chart of this SOW and any subsequent modifications to the contract, including all drafts identified as deliverables, shall be created in accordance with the terms and conditions detailed in this document. The research is expected to progress along the timeline and benchmarks as noted in the Deliverables section and as incorporated into the contract.

1.1.1 Contract Team

1. Key Personnel Key personnel shall have the technical skills requisite to perform the project. This requires a minimum of advanced technical training in applied economic and econometric analysis and demonstrated experience as subject matter experts. For example, a Ph.D. in Economics or survey methodology would be considered acceptable. Offerors shall submit resumes that demonstrate these minimum qualifications for key personnel, such as project leads.

1. Changes in Contract Team Contractors must seek prior written approval from the contracting officer and COR before any changes are implemented among the key personnel and other staff listed in the quote. Individuals that the contractor proposes to use as replacements for those listed in the quote shall satisfy the minimum qualification requirements contained in the solicitation and the contractor must provide resumes for each proposed replacement as part of its request for prior written approval.

1.1.2 Paperwork Reduction Act Requirements

When surveys or new information collections are necessary, contractors must meet the requirements of the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) where applicable. In order to do so, the contractor will need to anticipate within the performance term the required public notice and OMB review for information collections under the PRA. The creation of a new information collection will require the contractor to develop survey procedures; identify appropriate respondents; provide clarification of the collection process; provide realistic estimates of the response rates; and work to develop an appropriate survey instrument (see, https://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/information-regulatory-affairs/federal-collection-information/).

It is the contractor’s responsibility to prepare any materials necessary to obtain PRA clearances associated with the work to be performed.

1.1.3 Data Quality and Transparency Requirements

All research and data projects are subject to the Office of Management and Budget Guidelines for Ensuring and Maximizing the Quality, Objectivity, Utility, and Integrity of Information Disseminated by Federal Agencies (see, https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2002-02-22/pdf/R2-59.pdf).

Per these guidelines, data source disclosure and robustness checks will be required for any research or data project, including all data coding necessary to replicate findings and datasets derived through coding and query and used in support of analysis, unless otherwise limited by special access agreements. Peer review may range from internal Advocacy staff review to that of external reviewers in relevant fields such as academics or technical experts. Feedback from this process will be incorporated into subsequent drafts before the report can be finalized for release.

1.1.4 Data Rights

Rights in Data under FAR §§ 52.227-14 (alternates 2 and 5), 52.22715, and 52.227-16 shall apply.

1.1.5 Editing and Proofreading Requirements

The documented submissions related to the post award service, including the final report and all intervening deliverables, must be thoroughly edited and of high professional quality before submission to the COR. These high professional quality drafts and reports shall include professional language, presentation, and citations commensurate with published research in academic journals in the relevant subject matter field and shall be free of typographical and grammatical errors.

1.1.6 Style Requirements

The final report must contain an executive summary and table of contents. It must conform to the current version of one of the major style guides, such as the University of Chicago Manual of Style or the American Psychological Association (APA) Style Manual, in terms of grammar, style, and organization. In particular, each table and figure must have a source specified on the page; references, footnotes and bibliographies shall be formatted consistent with a major style guide; and all pages shall have page numbers, including tables and figures.

1.1.7 ADA Section 508 Requirements

All government agency electronic and information technology (EIT) is required to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA). Section 508 of the ADA’s 1998 amendments requires the electronic documents posted by Federal agencies to be accessible to employees and members of the public with disabilities to the extent that it does not pose an "undue burden." To comply with this mandate, the final report must be formatted in accordance with Section 508 requirements. The according to the Office of Advocacy will provide guidance to achieve 508 compatibility at the time of award; however, it is ultimately the contractor’s responsibility to provide all deliverables in accordance with the legal requirements for section 508 compliance. Per the guidelines, written descriptions of all figures and charts in the final report must be provided in a separate document.

1.1.8 Formatting Requirements

Final reports must be double-spaced. The format of the electronic version must be a native word processing software format. An Acrobat (PDF) file is not acceptable. All tables, graphics, and charts must be supplied in an editable software format. The font size used in the document will be no smaller than 12 point for manuscript text; 10 point for tables, graphics and charts; and 9 point for footnotes.

1.1.9 Disclaimer

The Office of Advocacy will prepare a cover page carrying the following disclaimer, "The statements, findings, conclusions, and recommendations found in this study are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Office of Advocacy, the United States Small Business Administration, or the United States Government."

1.1.10 Product Release

If the contracted product is a complete publishable report, following approval and acceptance of the final report, the Office of Advocacy will assign a date for public release of the report. Upon release, an electronic final report, along with an Office of Advocacy-prepared research summary, will be posted on Advocacy's web site, https://advocacy.sba.gov/.

1.1.11 Definition of Small Business

Within the research product, the definition of small businesses should be the same as that of the quote and should be consistent with either the general definition of small businesses (less than 500 employees), the definition of small business established by the U.S. Small Business Administration’s Office of Size Standards, or a reasonably justified definition of small business as substantiated in the contractor’s quote.

1.1.12 Future Publication and Attribution

Prior to the Office of Advocacy’s release, the Contractor shall not release, distribute, or publish the final research product without written permission of the Office of Advocacy. The Office of Advocacy encourages contractors to publish their findings in professional journals, if possible, but they can do so only after completing the contract, and, if prior to the Office of Advocacy’s release, receiving written permission of the Office of Advocacy. Prior to publication, the Contractor must notify the Contracting Officer Representative in writing regarding attribution to the Office of Advocacy. Attribution must cite the SBA contract number under which the research was performed.