About

Benjamin M. Brunjes is an Associate Professor at the Evans School of Public Policy & Governance at the University of Washington. He joined the faculty as an Assistant Professor in 2016. His academic research focuses on public management, specifically managerial complexity involving networks, contracts, and grants. His work aims to provide government with research and information to improve accountability, equity, and efficiency by better understanding and utilizing these managerial tools. Prior to his academic career, Ben worked at the Homeland Security Institute in Arlington, Virginia, from 2007 to 2013, where he analyzed emergency management and national policy implementation. He also worked on the Technology Insights team at the Advisory Board Company in Washington, D.C., focusing on Medicare reimbursement, profitability, efficacy, and marketability of implantable devices. Additionally, he served as the Director of the Law Enforcement Development Center at the Performance Institute. Ben holds a B.A. in American Politics from the University of Virginia, a Graduate Certificate in Public Health Information Systems and Informatics from the University of Maryland, an MPA from the University of Georgia, and a Ph.D. in Public Administration from the University of Georgia.

Research topics

• Political Science
• Business
• Finance
• Economics
• Marketing
• Public administration
• Industrial organization
• Economy
• Public relations
• Accounting
• Economic growth
• Medicine
• Public economics
• Law

Selected publications

• There and back again: New patronage and the U.S. Civil service system

  Administrative Theory & Praxis · 2026-01-07 · 1 citations

  article1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• Collaboration, Organizational Capacity, and Sustainability: The Cross-Sector Governance of Smart Cities

  Public Administration Quarterly · 2024-11-09 · 3 citations

  article

  Interactions with other organizations likely influence how local governments confront complex problems. Drawing on theories of collaborative governance, we investigate the extent to which collaboration affects U.S. local governments’ prioritization of the sustainability benefits of Smart Cities Technologies (SCT). Using data from the International City/County Management Association (ICMA) 2016 Smart Cities Survey and the U.S. Census Bureau, we find that collaboration with local, regional, and private sector partners influences the extent to which local governments prioritize the sustainability benefits of SCT. Organizational capacity is also an important predictor of perceived benefits of SCT. Our findings suggest a hidden side of boundary spanning, suggesting that collaboration can enhance opportunities for sustainability technologies.

  PublisherDOI

• Establishing an Agenda for Public Budgeting and Finance Research

  Deleted Journal · 2024 · 20 citations

  • Political Science
  • Political Science
  • Public administration

  Public budgeting and finance is a discipline that encompasses communities of research and practice. Too often, however, these communities fail to engage each other, instead choosing to operate independently. The result is that the research being conducted fails to address the questions of the day and our governments’ challenges. In this article, we come together as a community of academics and practitioners to establish an agenda for where future research should be conducted. This agenda aims to align the research being undertaken within the academic community with the needs of those working in the community of practice. After establishing ten areas where research is needed, we followed a ranked-choice voting process to establish a prioritization for them. Based on the outcome of this process, the two primary areas where research is currently needed most are the fiscal health of our governments and the implementation of social equity budgeting.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Insights Into Public Procurement: Principles, Processes, and Partnership Dynamics

  Elsevier eBooks · 2024-07-07 · 2 citations

  book-chapterSenior author
  PublisherDOI

• Merit or Marionettes? An Analysis of Decision-Making and the Political Control of Federal Project Grant Awards

  Journal of Public Administration · 2023-01-01 · 2 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior authorCorresponding

  Abstract Project grants, which are designated to fund a particular program or initiative, are supposed to be awarded based on the technical merit of the grant application. However, public administrators are commonly influenced by political priorities. We ask whether administrators prioritize merit or political objectives when awarding project grants. We identify three decision-making processes used to award project grants: political, administrative, and exported. Then, using data from eight U.S. federal grant programs from 2008 – 2015, we analyze whether grants using each of these decision-making processes show signs of political influence. We find evidence that grants using either political or administrative forms of decision-making are susceptible to legislative priorities. Grants awarded by third-party experts show no evidence of political influence. We conclude that political factors are important for the allocation of project grants, offering insights into the interdependent relationship between legislators and administrators. Keywords: Decision-Making, Politics, Grants, Contracts, Pork Barrel Politics, Federalism, Political Control, Bureaucratic Politics, Public Administration.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Equity in government contracting: Analyzing the performance of small disadvantaged businesses

  Public Administration Review · 2023-07-14 · 11 citations

  article1st authorCorresponding

  Abstract Set aside programs, which preference disadvantaged businesses, have long been among the largest government equity programs in the United States. Set asides ensure government revenues spur economic growth in firms and communities that have traditionally lacked representation in systems of power. However, there has been skepticism about whether set aside programs are compatible with the efficiency objectives of government contracting. Few empirical studies have assessed the comparative performance of small, disadvantaged businesses and other firms to determine if there are differences. Using contract level data from the Federal Procurement Data System: Next Generation, we test whether set aside contracts are associated with a reduction in the government's ability to secure “best value.” We find few performance differences between small, disadvantaged businesses, and other vendors across a range of goods and services, suggesting mutual benefits and no outsized risks when governments engage in contracts with disadvantaged firms.

  PublisherDOI

• Author response for "A Replication of “Contracting Out: With Whom? For What?”"

  2023-01-21

  peer-reviewSenior author
  PublisherDOI

• Partners or Providers? An Analysis of Nonprofit Federal Contractor Performance

  Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly · 2023-04-26 · 11 citations

  article1st authorCorresponding

  As competition over grant funding increases, nonprofit organizations (NPOs) are increasingly likely to enter into contracts with government agencies to ensure funding stability and accomplish organizational goals. Public agencies seek to reduce the possibility of contractor performance problems. Unlike profit-seeking firms that may need constant monitoring, NPOs could be more likely to serve as stewards of public resources, delivering services consistent with shared goals. However, few empirical studies have assessed the comparative performance of private and nonprofit contractors to determine whether there are meaningful differences in practice. This study analyzes nearly 25,000 U.S. federal definitive contracts that concluded between 2005 and 2015. Using predictive statistical analyses, findings indicate that nonprofits deliver more complex work than their for-profit counterparts, are less likely to be terminated early, do not require additional contract modifications, and are treated similarly to other vendors. Taken together, the results suggest that there are mutual benefits when governments and nonprofits engage in contracts.

  PublisherDOI

• Replication Data for: A Replication of "Contracting Out: With Whom? For What?"

  Harvard Dataverse · 2023-01-20

  datasetOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  The data used in this analysis are proprietary (had to be purchased), so we offer a detailed description and code for how our analysis was performed in place of the full data set.

  PublisherDOI

• Future directions for research in public procurement and contract management

  Edward Elgar Publishing eBooks · 2023-08-14 · 4 citations

  book-chapter1st authorCorresponding

  Public procurement is a complex government function, as it links closely with budgeting, influences the creation and enactment of organizational strategy, and affects the implementation and performance of public programs. Initial steps have been taken to describe the use of government contracts, understand transaction costs in contracting, and make sense of principal-agent relationships in contracting. Building on these traditions of research, contracting and procurement offer fertile ground for future scholars interested in developing a better theoretical and practical understanding of modern governance. To help guide future research on contracting and procurement, this chapter outlines the primary takeaways from existing scholarship and identifies four important gaps in the literature. For each gap, the authors review existing studies and present a series of research questions that remain unanswered. They conclude with an overall assessment of the state of the field and a summary of areas where new approaches and scholarship are needed.

  PublisherDOI

Frequent coauthors

• Ana‐Maria Dimand

  Boise State University

  7 shared

• Lachezar G. Anguelov

  The Evergreen State College

  5 shared

• Sawsan Abutabenjeh

  5 shared

• Evelyn Rodriguez‐Plesa

  North Carolina Central University

  3 shared

• Julius A. Nukpezah

  Mississippi State University

  3 shared

• Robert A. Schuhmann

  University of Wyoming

  2 shared

• Annus Azhar

  Arizona State University

  2 shared

• Robert Greer

  Mitchell Institute

  2 shared

Education

• Ph.D. (public management), Public Adminstration and Policy

  University of Georgia

  2016

• Master in Public Administration (MPA) - public finance, public policy analysis, Public Administration and Policy

  University of Georgia

  2013

• Graduate Certificate: Public Health Informatics and Information Systems, Public Health

  University of Maryland

  2010

• BA, American Politics

  University of Virginia

  2005