Research
Center staff and affiliated faculty produce significant research ranging from commentary pieces in influential outlets, to white papers and essays on pressing government contracting issues, to peer-reviewed articles in premier journals.
Center competencies and capabilities are making an impact in the government contracting industry:
- Unique and influential analysis, commentaries, reports, and webinars on the federal response to COVID.
- White Paper Series that shares cutting edge research on small business transition, intellectual property, DoD budget reform, acquisition reform, and industrial base resilience.
- Impactful op eds in The Hill, Business Insider, Defense One, Defense News, the National Interest, with additional coverage by national print and broadcast outlets.
Reports
White Paper Series
The Baroni Center for Government Contracting White Paper Series is a central focus of our work. The purpose of the series is to inject ideas into the government contracting ecosystem and identify potential solutions for vexing challenges facing the community.
In releasing these White Papers, the Center gratefully acknowledges the work of its senior fellows who wrote them. Through research, writing, and discussion, Center senior fellows champion matters of interest to the government contracting community. These fellows add a rich practitioner component for the Costello College of Business to better understand and support the GovCon industry.
We welcome your feedback and ideas for future topics in this series. Contact Charles Dolgas at cdolgas@gmu.edu.
Commentaries
Center commentaries provide timely insights into pressing government contracting issues in government and business. Whether the commentary topic is “in the news” or deserves “future attention,” readers are provided short, to the point on the topic, why the topic is important, and what to consider for its resolution.
July 18, 2024Keith Webster, the president of the defense and aerospace council at the US Chamber of Commerce — who last week hosted the defense industrial forum at NATO’s 75th anniversary summit — and Dr. Jerry McGinn, the director of the Baroni Center for Government Contracting at George Mason University, discuss defense industrial takeaways from the gathering of alliance leaders last week in Washington, how to improve industrial capacity, balancing Buy American with Buy Allied sentiments, and more with Defense & Aerospace Report Editor Vago Muradian.-
July 15, 2024Baroni Senior Fellow Emily Murphy is interviewed by Tom Temin, host of Federal Drive, on her latest White Paper, "The Potential Effects of Raising the Micro-Purchase Threshold"
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July 15, 2024In this op-ed, Olivia Letts of George Mason University discusses the incompatibilities of PPBE with advancing space technologies and how to address these challenges.
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June 11, 2024In this op-ed, Jerry McGinn says the Senate Armed Services Committee should seriously consider the creation of a new office inside DoD for international cooperation.
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May 10, 2024Jeff Kojac, Baroni Center director of studies, presents how Congressional leadership is needed for Defense acquisition rapid innovation and adaptation.
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May 7, 2024The House Financial Services Committee’s hearing this week on the reauthorization of the Defense Production Act is timely and important. The DPA is an essential tool for national security that was little known prior to COVID-19. Its use during the pandemic helped the U.S. government mobilize its industrial base to allocate and distribute goods as well as make investments to build industrial capacity in critical areas such as ventilators and personal protective equipment during a time of national crisis. That recent experience, coupled with the daunting national security challenges facing us today, makes it a great time to strengthen the DPA for the future. Jerry McGinn's Opinion in Defense News shares how we can do it:
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April 8, 2024Secretary del Toro captures the essence of the anti-buyback argument, which has been articulated by Pentagon leaders for years: “You can’t be asking the American taxpayer to make even greater public investments while you continue, in some cases, to goose your stock prices through stock buybacks, deferring promised capital investments, and other accounting maneuvers.” Why do defense companies continue to pursue stock buybacks? It is principally the large mature defense primes such as Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman and HII that buy back stock. These firms are profitable, generate significant cash flow, have a relatively low cost of capital and are not highly leveraged.
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February 9, 2024Jerry McGinn's latest in NIDA's National Defense Magazine on competition in the defense industrial base presents and how to unlock new levels of competition for Defense.
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January 17, 2024Dr. Jerry McGinn, the director of the Baroni Center for Government Contracting at George Mason University, and Steve Grundman of the Atlantic Council and the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University — who both lead the Pentagon’s industrial policy office — discuss the Biden administration’s first ever National Defense Industrial Strategy that was unveiled by last week with Defense & Aerospace Report Editor Vago Muradian.
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January 16, 2024Tom Temin Federal Drive Podcast with Jerry McGinn on the first-ever National Defense Industrial Strategy.
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January 11, 2024Common Defense Network (ComDef) Interview with Dr. Jerry McGinn on Industrial base issues and international participation. DPA, NTIB and AUKUS also covered.
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January 3, 2024In an Op-Ed written by Jerry McGinn for Breaking Defense, McGinn argues that the Pentagon can move more quickly if it heeds lessons from a previous life-or-death acquisition story.
Affiliated Faculty
The Center for Government Contracting offers access to both the GovCon network and funds for research and writing, to enrich the understanding of the unique business interests on both sides of this market—government and business.
Affiliated Faculty appointments will
- Encourage academic research in GovCon;
- Advance the research reputation of the faculty and the Center;
- Offer grants and honoraria to support the effort faculty can bring to this discussion; and
- Offer a new avenue to engage faculty who share our interest to create a more efficient and effective market for the public good.