Government set-asides,minority business development,and public contracting: introduction

Race-conscious affirmative action programs have been a part of American life for nearly three decades. Race-conscious set-asides are the latest government programs implemented to alleviate the adverse economic impact of racial discrimination and to foster minority business development. Minority business enterprises (MBEs) have been the specific targets of federal, state, and local government enacted set-aside programs with the principal purpose of overcoming the continuing effects of earlier discrimination. Government set-aside programs may be classified as “hard ball” affirmative action programs because they “provide absolute references to members of designated minority groups.⁽¹⁾