What term describes the illegal collaboration to fix bid outcomes?

The term that best describes the illegal collaboration to fix bid outcomes is "Bid Rigging." This practice occurs when competitors conspire to manipulate the bidding process to ensure that one of them wins the contract at an inflated price, thus undermining the principles of fair competition and potentially resulting in higher costs for consumers or the government. Bid rigging is a specific form of collusion that typically involves various schemes such as rotating who wins the contract or inflating bids to create a facade of competition.

In contrast, price fixing refers to an agreement among competitors to set prices at a certain level, which is broader than just the context of bidding. Collusion is a more general term that encompasses any type of secret agreement among competitors, including bid rigging as a subset of collusion. Market manipulation involves deceptive practices intended to manipulate the price or trading of a security in the marketplace, which doesn't specifically address the bidding process. Thus, while all these concepts relate to illegal agreements among businesses, "Bid Rigging" precisely captures the act of conspiring to control bid outcomes.