In almost every country, government is the largest buyer of works, goods, and services from the private sector. Through the laws and practice of public procurement, governments create competition among firms, thus optimizing public expenditure. However, public procurement is often associated with inefficient allocation of resources and corruption. One method to reduce inefficiencies and abuse in public procurement is the use of e-government procurement (e-GP) platforms. Yet nearly 40% of countries—mostly low- and lower-middle income countries—do not have functioning e-GP platforms. Cost–benefit analysis is used to make the investment case for the development and integration of e-procurement systems in low- and lower middle-income countries. The costs of setting up an e- GP system include an initial investment of $9.03 million, on average, for the planning, design, and build phases spread over a 5-year period. Annual operating and maintenance expenses during pilot and deployment phases are estimated at $1.1 million annually. In total, it is estimated that the net present value of costs to design, build, test, deploy, and operate a robust e-GP system is $16.7 million for a typical low- and middle-income country (at an 8% discount rate). While there are many tangible benefits of e-GP, the benefit assessed here is the reduction in the prices of goods, works, and services paid by government buyers. Using the average percentage reduction in procurement prices of 6.75%, the savings from an e-procurement system are valued at $637.9 million and $5.2 billion for low- and lower middle-income countries, respectively. The benefit–cost ratio of implementing an e-GP system in the average low-income country ranges from 8 to 58 and is 142 to 473 for a lower middle-income country. The size of the procurement market, the reduction in procurement prices, the duration of the implementation process, and the penetration rate of e-GP throughout government are principal determinants in the return on investment.

South Africa has one of the world’s highest youth unemployment rates despite a high demand for skilled labour, because employability remains severely hampered by a persistent vertical skills mismatch. The flagship upskilling programme deployed by the government to enhance job readiness and enterprise development capabilities among rural youth has, however, shown mixed results. The slow uptakes of alumni calls into question the adequacy of the programme’s skills composition in resolving the labour market mismatch. Using the Outcome Mapping approach and probit estimation on self-reported skills improvements among programme participants, this study finds perceived improvements in non-technical skills to be associated with a higher likelihood of success in comparison to technical skills, both in securing a stable job and in launching a viable enterprise after completion of the programme. These findings confirm the growing importance of ‘soft skills’ in bolstering employability when jobs are scarce. They suggest the need for a stronger emphasis on this set of skills in upskilling programmes aimed to address unemployment challenges.

A quirk in the Social Security benefit formula interacting with the sharp economic downturn due to the COVID-19 pandemic could cause certain groups of near-retirees to suffer significant and permanent reductions to their Social Security retirement benefits. A sudden decline in the Social Security Administration (SSA)'s measure of economywide average wages in the year a worker turns 60 causes the Social Security benefit formula to devalue all the worker's earnings prior to age 60, resulting in a lower measure of career-average earnings and a lower benefit in retirement. A middle-income worker aged 60 in 2020 could receive an annual Social Security benefit reduction of around 9%, with losses through retirement approaching $46,000. Individuals becoming eligible for Social Security Disability Insurance benefits would be subject to similar reductions in percentage terms. Several methods are discussed to reduce or eliminate the likelihood of similar benefit ‘notches’ occurring in the future.

For decades, the U.S. Air Force has contemplated replacing the A-10 Thunderbolt II “Warthog” with a newer fighter aircraft. However, a quantitative analysis comparing the Warthog’s performance and costs with those of its intended replacement, the F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter, shows that retiring the Warthog would be operationally unsound and fiscally imprudent. The rationale for the replacement is that it would increase airpower capability while controlling costs. That rationale does not withstand scrutiny. An effectiveness analysis based on results from a survey of joint terminal attack controllers indicates that the A-10 vastly outperforms the F-35 in providing close-air support (CAS), a critical requirement for future conflicts against terrorists and insurgents. A cost analysis demonstrates that replacing the A-10 before its service life ends in 2035 would cost at least $20.9 billion. The replacement plan would waste substantial resources and seriously impair U.S. military capabilities. Given that constrained future budgets and low-intensity conflicts requiring precision CAS can be expected, the U.S. air fleet should include the A-10 Thunderbolt II.

Dans cet article, nous considérons la mise en œuvre du critère de l'offre économiquement la plus avantageuse dans des marchés publics passés par voie électronique. Pour cela, nous analysons la procédure usuelle de l'enchère anglaise inversée avec bonus de qualité en considérant que les coûts de production des offreurs sont croissants avec le niveau de qualité des produits et que la fonction d'utilité des acheteurs est concave en qualité. Nous montrons que cette procédure ne concrétise pas en général le mécanisme d'enchères optimal. Nous montrons ensuite qu'un plafonnement des prix dans l'enchère anglaise permet de restaurer l'optimalité de la procédure et de mettre en œuvre une discrimination analogue à la discrimination optimale dans le cas uniforme.