U.S. Small Business Administration, Office of Procurement & Grants Management, 409 3rd St., S.W., 5th Floor, Washington, D.C. 20416

R -- RESEARCH DISSERTATIONS SOL RFP-95-13-SB DUE 050195 POC Sheila F. Brooks, Contracting Officer; Sheila F. Brooks, Contract Specialist (202) 205-6622 The U.S. Small Business Administration, Office of Advocacy is soliciting proposals from scholars in the areas listed below. Awards are for the purpose of promoting research on small business and current policy issues listed below. Technical proposals will be limited to 5 pages, not including vitae and budget statements. Doctoral candidates may submit doctoral dissertation proposals. Each doctoral dissertation submission must be accompanied by a letter from a sponsoring faculty member or faculty advisor as part of the proposal package. The categories are 1. Finance - The feasibility of an entity like a Real Estate Mortgage Investment Corporation like entity to package small business loans, what contributes to volatility and salability of stock of small stock issues with policy options, possible impact on small business of Financial Accounting Standards Board accounting rules for employee stock opitons. 2. Impact of size of Firm on the dollar amount of penalties imposed/negotiated by federal government/U.S. Attorneys (non-IRS regulations such as OSHA, EPA, etc.), 3. Multi-Unit Franchises - Good for small business? This topic will examine how the introduction or expansion of multi-establishment franchises in a market area affects the growth and survival of independent and single establishment firms. The study must focus on specific well defined industrial and geographic markets. 4. Unfair competition with nonprofit organizations - While nonprofit organizations have been cited for years for engaging in commercial activities in direct competition with for-profit small firms that pay Federal, state and local taxes for the privilege of doing business, little has been done to level this particular portion of the playing field. This research must focus on the total number of such organizations, the number which compete with small firms, the industries affected. 5. Open ended topic on small firm contributions to the economy - Doctoral students are free to suggest their own research topics, but these must be policy relevant. They must either suggest changes in policy applicable to small firms, or derive or provide economic data which can be used to test policies which demonstrate some differential aspect of small firm versus large firm behavior. 6. Measuring impact of crime on small business - Cost, security measures, changes in methods of doing business, factors in decision to go out of, or stay in business. 7. Projections on the impact of the interstate Banking Act on Small Business' access to Capital by Studying Regional Banks' use of Loan Processing Centers - Did banks make more or less or the same amount of loans to small businesses before and after the decision to use loan processing centers? What are the policy implications? 8. Telecommunications: The effect of competition in long distance telephone markets - Access of small business to telephone services normally purchased by firms with 1,500 employees. 9. Government Purchasing - Impact of ''bundling'' contracts on small business and industry structure. 10. The Differential Cost Impact of Regulations on the Production Function of Large and Small Firms - Models for measuring cost effectiveness of federal regulations on small and large firms. It is anticipated that the RFP will be issued O/A 03/01/95. The closing date for receipt of the proposals will be O/A 05/01/95. Copies of the RFP will be provided upon written request only. NO TELEPHONE OR FAX REQUESTS WILL BE HONORED. This acquisition is a TOTAL SMALL BUSINESS SET-ASIDE. SIC 8732 ($5M) has been assigned for this acquisition. (0034)

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