SOLICITATION NOTICE
B -- Hourly Compensation Costs for Manufacturing Workers in China
- Notice Date
- 4/14/2004
- Notice Type
- Solicitation Notice
- NAICS
- 541990
— All Other Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services
- Contracting Office
- Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Procurement and Property Management, 2 Massachusetts Avenue, NE, Room 1830, Washington, DC, 20212
- ZIP Code
- 20212
- Solicitation Number
- BLS-04-018
- Response Due
- 4/21/2004
- Archive Date
- 5/6/2004
- Point of Contact
- Joe Rudolph, Purchasing Agent, Phone 202-691-6033, Fax 202-691-6026, - Karen Barton, Purchasing Agent, Phone (202) 691-6023, Fax (202) 691-6026,
- E-Mail Address
-
Rudolph_J@bls.gov, barton_k@bls.gov
- Description
- The Bureau of Labor Statistics intends to enter into a sole source contract under Simplified Acquisition Procedures with Judith Banister, Citicham Place, Building 16 Suite 21-A, Madian, Haidian District, Beijing 100088, China for Hourly Compensation Costs for Manufacturing Workers in China. Survey will be conducted in China. Total cost for this requirement will not exceed $28,000. This notice of intent is not a request for offers. A determination not to compete this proposed procurement is solely within the discretion of the Government. There is no RFP notice. For information purposes only. DESCRIPTION I. Background The Division of Foreign Labor Statistics (DFLS) of the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) publishes international comparisons of hourly compensation costs for production workers in manufacturing for 30 countries, including several developing countries such as Mexico, Brazil, and Singapore. These comparisons are widely used as indicators of the competitiveness of the United States in international trade. There is a high and increasing demand for such comparisons for China. The Advisory Councils to BLS frequently ask DFLS to initiate studies for China, even if they will only yield data for a partial comparison ? such as a major city or region of the country. We have received similar requests from other agencies in the Department of Labor and the Federal Government as well as from researchers, businesses, unions, and academics. We are unable to meet this demand because the Chinese data are difficult for us to obtain and understand (they are mainly in Chinese and include only limited English translations),, and we do not have contacts in the Chinese National Statistical Office. Further, there are unique aspects of China?s economic data that require expert interpretation by someone very familiar with the country?s statistics. Our preliminary investigation has determined that data on manufacturing wages exist for China. They are published in China?s English language yearbooks. For the purposes of assessing comparability of the data with U.S. statistics, however, the publications do not provide sufficient information about methodologies and definitions. . We have located other studies that attempt to measure labor costs in China in certain sectors of the economy. These sources indicate that there are enough data and information available to justify the proposed study. The goal of this study is to improve knowledge of the available data. Available data at the national level shall first be investigated. Then the project shall focus on categories of data for which more information is available such as: data covering a particular area of the country and a subset of all manufacturing workers. Data for 1990-2003 or the latest available is targeted. Further, it may not be possible to include all components of hourly compensation costs: some of these components may be unavailable or inapplicable to China. Even though a full comparison is probably not possible at this stage, it would be a significant contribution to provide a well documented partial data set for China. II. Scope and Nature of Project The contractor shall research the publicly available data for China on employment, wages, and components of additional labor costs for the manufacturing sector. National level data shall first be investigated. The contractor shall review the available data to determine whether the study should proceed to cover the entire country or only a selected industrial region of China, such as Shanghai and its neighboring provinces. The contractor shall determine the definitions of wages and earnings in China as well as the additional elements of compensation to the worker, aiming at coverage of the elements in the definition used in the BLS international comparisons, insofar as possible. Some of the elements in the BLS definition may not be applicable to China, whereas there may be other elements of labor compensation unique to China that shall be investigated and documented. The contractor shall determine the most feasible worker coverage for China, keeping in mind that the data shall be most useful for those parts of the Chinese manufacturing sector exposed to international competition. The most feasible worker coverage is likely to be for full-time manufacturing workers in urban areas. Some estimates of the numbers of part-time or part-year workers excluded from the comparisons shall be made. If there are any wage data for the excluded persons, then the contractor shall report on the likely magnitude of bias of the full-time worker estimates. The contractor shall determine the feasibility of providing wage and compensation data on an hourly basis. If this is not feasible, then monthly or annual data shall be acceptable. The contractor shall assess the comparability of the data on wages and earnings in terms of data collection methods and aggregation, sampling errors, reliability, and consistency. The contractor shall note any areas in which the Chinese statistics deviate from accepted international norms (such as International Labor Office recommendations and international classification systems), as well as any cases in which uniquely Chinese factors may cause certain statistics to be misleading to U.S. data users. Changes in definitions and methods made over the years shall be documented, and their impact on time series comparability noted. As a part of the investigation, the contractor shall comment on the coverage and comparability of China?s data on trends and levels of manufacturing employment. This study shall be limited to the time period 1990-2003 or the latest year that data are available. The availability of data for years earlier than 1990 shall be noted. The contractor shall identify areas where further research is needed. III. Work Plan The Bureau of Labor Statistics shall provide the contractor with information on the methods and definitions used by BLS to compile and adjust foreign wage and compensation data to U.S. concepts. The contractor shall then direct a search for the applicable wage and compensation data for China and proceed with the analysis leading to the paper described in the next section. If needed, conference calls shall be arranged between BLS staff and the contractor. Otherwise, communications shall be via e-mail, fax, and/or regular mail. The contractor shall make contacts with the appropriate personnel at China?s National Statistical Office in order to obtain the data and metadata (sources, methods, definitions, interpretations) needed for the project. Contacts shall also be made with academics and other government officials to obtain further information relevant to the project. IV. Period of Performance The period of performance of the contract shall be seven months beginning from the date of the award. The contractor shall prepare a report describing the manufacturing wage and compensation data available for China and presenting results in a time series, noting deviations from the BLS international comparisons in terms of definitions and coverage. The time period from 1990 to 2003 or the latest available year shall be covered. Monthly progress reports shall be prepared and delivered to the contracting officer?s technical representative (COTR). The final report shall include the following: 1. Describe China?s national and regional manufacturing employment, wage and earnings statistics in terms of sources, definitions, and coverage. 2. Using a list of non-wage components of labor compensation provided by BLS, indicate which of these components are applicable to China?s manufacturing sector, and their sources, definitions, and coverage. 3. Determine if there are elements of labor compensation in China?s manufacturing sector that are not on the BLS listing and provide information about them. 4. Justify choice of geographic and worker coverage for the data to be presented, and for any other estimates or proxies used. 5. Assess data comparability in terms of data collection methods and aggregation, sampling errors, reliability, and consistency over time. 6. A qualitative summary of limitations associated with Chinese data, including deviations from accepted international norms (International Labor Office recommendations and international classification systems), as well as possible areas for future research. 7. A documented time series covering 1990 to 2003 (or latest year available) for manufacturing wages and several observation dates in this time period for the additional compensation costs that are available. 8. A commentary on the coverage and comparability of China?s data on trends and levels of manufacturing employment. 9. A list of contacts and contact information with which BLS can follow up in maintaining and updating the series. A draft report shall be submitted to the COTR for comments within four months of the award of the contract. BLS comments shall be addressed, and the report incorporating the BLS comments transmitted to BLS one month after receipt of the comments. This report shall form the basis for a 2-hour seminar by the contractor at the BLS in Washington, D.C. The final report shall be submitted to the COTR one month after the seminar. The NTE amount shall includes all travel expenses. Deliverables: Delivery Date: Draft report 4 months after award of contract Report incorporating BLS comments 1 month after comments received Seminar in Washington, D.C. Within 1 month after completing report incorporating BLS comments Final Report 1 month after seminar The purchasing activity is not responsible for locating or securing any information which is not identified in the quotation and reasonably available to the purchasing activity. Delivery shall as outlined in descriptions. All information shall be submitted to BLS, Room 1830, 2 MASS. AVE. NE, Washington, DC 20212 - Telephone Number 202-691-6023 - not later than 3:00pm EDT, - April 21, 2004, and be clearly marked with RFQ# BLS-04-018. The point of contact for all information is Joe Rudolph/Karen Barton, Purchasing Agents, at the address and phone number listed above. If your response is not received by the date/time and at the location specified in the announcement, it will not be considered. No hand carried quotes will be accepted. Offerors may download the RFQ by accessing the FedBizopps website at //www.fedbizopps.gov All future information about this acquisition, including solicitation amendments, will also be distributed through the FBO site. Interested parties are responsible for monitoring the FBO site to ensure that they have the most up-to-date information about this acquisition. Fax (202-691-6026) proposals are encouraged and must state name, address and solicitation number. An original copy of the proposal shall follow by mail. Quotations may also be submitted electronically provided that all the necessary documentation requested in this RFQ is included.
- Place of Performance
- Address: Beijing 100088, China
- Zip Code: 100088
- Country: China
- Zip Code: 100088
- Record
- SN00565593-W 20040416/040414211812 (fbodaily.com)
- Source
-
FedBizOpps.gov Link to This Notice
(may not be valid after Archive Date)
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