Arguendo consultants have extensive experience in analysis of contract incentives and regulatory methods. Arguendo works with leading academics in the field of procurement design and evaluation. Our capabilities include review of existing procurement processes and past contract awards and development of recommendations for process changes aimed at enhancing efficiency and integrity.

Arguendo consultants offer comparative studies that examine how differences in procurement rules, responsibilities and market settings interact to produce more or less desirable outcomes. Case study methods and statistical analyses provide a range of powerful research methods that assist in evaluating past performance and future potential. Fixed-price and cost-plus contracting, quality assurance requirements, public participation and accountability to taxpayers, vendor qualification, prototype and pilot program competitions, personnel training and oversight, process performance and outcome measurement are among the tools and options an Arguendo team considers in evaluating the fit between a public authority's processes and its objectives. Arguendo's ability to offer a combination of academic/theoretical understanding and practical experience is unmatched among consulting organizations.

Arguendo’s practice in the area of Public Procurement and Regulation is led by Dr. Barbara Alexander. In Dr. Alexander's work as Chief of Research at the Public Utility Commission of Texas and as a rate-design consultant to the Commission, she obtained first-hand experience in implementation of various regulatory methods. The vulnerability of various procurement contract designs to bid-rigging was the topic of Dr. Alexander's economics Ph.D. dissertation at Harvard. That research was published in the journal Public Choice. Dr. Alexander's publications also include a number of articles on Depression-era collusion and on policy development under the New Deal.

Dr. Alexander has also designed and taught a course on “Economic Regulation and Deregulation” at Brandeis University. The course addresses efficiency and integrity issues in a wide range of industries.