Mind Map¶
Interactive overview of the paper's logical structure. Click and drag to explore.
mindmap
root((Cheap Signals,<br/>Costly Proof:<br/>Award-Layer<br/>Evidence Triage))
**Institutional Setting**
Two observability layers
Award layer cheap and routine
Bid layer costly forensic-recoverable
BEC Platform
Sao Paulo state
2009-2019
1.65M analysis tender-items
41K unique firms
Modalities Convite and Pregao
Lei 14.133/2021
Consolidates pregao default
**Frequent-Loser Screen**
Always-losers
win rate = 0%
16,843 firms
IQR threshold
median + 1.5 x IQR ~ 14
2,735 FL firms
Treatment: tender has >= 1 FL
Primitive
log(1+tenders_count)
Binary flag is its coarsening
**Validation Target**
Cobidders adjudication-anchored
193 firms with CADE defendants
NOT direct defendants
Loser-side scope by design
**Discrimination**
Firm-level AUC
0.924 in-sample
0.864 temporal holdout
Direct-CADE AUC ~ 0.49
Predicted null = scope signature
Audits
Sham permutation 32 sigma
Leakage 0.995 to 0.891 to 0.864
Strict ex ante timing
Exposure-adjusted opportunity sets
**Architecture (headline)**
Award triage then bid forensics
Gatekeeping
83% bid-microdata reduction
131 of 193 recovered
8% recall cost
Complementarity
FL + Imhof AUC 0.962
FL increment +0.035 DeLong p=0.014
**Price (scope, descriptive)**
Broad +3.6 to 7.7%
Sign reversal
Overlap-cell ATT -0.097
Q4 only positive +0.041
Decomposition
Selection dQ5-Q1 +5.58 log-points
Mechanism bidder inflation 66%
Buyer-size gradient
Q1 +21.4% to Q4 +1.7%
Not a damages estimate
**Modal Scope**
Pregao AUC 0.952
Convite AUC 0.816
Scope info not institutional test
**Enforcement Pathway**
Screen
Award records only
SQL query or spreadsheet
Triage
Award-layer survivor pool
Investigate
Bid-level forensics on survivors