Public Procurement and Competition: Some Challenges Arising from Recent Developments in EU Public Procurement Law
TL;DR: In this article, the authors explore the recent OECD push for more competition in public procurement and its role as an influential factor in the ongoing reform of EU public procurement rules, and critically assesses three of the main challenges to keeping public procurement precompetitive: (i) the difficult balance in terms of procurement transparency created by the clash between competition and corruption concerns; (ii) the magnification of the undesired (potential) anticompetitive effects of public procurement that centralised procurement may generate, as well as its increasing use as an improper tool of market regulation.
Abstract: The relationship between public procurement and competition has recently been receiving an increasing amount of attention, both in academic and policymaking circles. It is becoming common ground that public procurement holds a complex and bidirectional relationship with market competition and that, consequently, a tighter link between public procurement and competition law enforcement needs to be established.This paper explores the recent OECD push for more competition in public procurement and its role as an influential factor in the ongoing reform of EU public procurement rules. Afterwards, it critically assesses three of the main challenges to keeping public procurement precompetitive: (i) the difficult balance in terms of procurement transparency created by the clash between competition and corruption concerns; (ii) the magnification of the undesired (potential) anticompetitive effects of public procurement that centralised procurement may generate, as well as its increasing use as an improper tool of market regulation; and (iii) the possible competitive distortions and the potential advantages resulting from the generalization of eProcurement. The conclusions extract some common patterns derived from the previous analysis and suggest some policy recommendations mainly oriented at boosting oversight and professionalization of procurement.
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TL;DR: In this article , the effect of marketing strategies specifically sales promotion and perceived product quality on consumers' purchasing behavior toward Maggi products in the Tamale metropolis of Ghana was analyzed.
Abstract: South Africa's (SA) history of apartheid produced racial inequality that was entrenched for centuries. After 1994, the goal of the new government was to transform the workplace. Numerous affirmative action (AA), legislation, policies, and procedures enforced organisational transformational obligation and compliance. Studies in SA indicate a slow pace of transformation. The financial sector may be paying lip service to affirmative action legislation; setting racially balancing targets for management structures yet not achieving them. The purpose of this paper is to explore existing literature on transformational leadership and AA progress in the SA financial sector to propose an AA Transformational Model. The research method employed was abstract qualitative content analysis method. Selected accredited journal articles were analysed as per the paper keywords for emerging trends on the topic. Findings indicate lack of leadership in transformational implementation, leadership commitment, and management motivation for accelerated transformational targets and strategies. The paper theoretically adds to the body of knowledge on workforce transformational leadership. The practical contribution of this paper is the proposed AA Transformational Model for the SA Financial sector to be proactive in their AA transformation. The role marketing strategies plays in influencing purchasing behaviors of consumers in various economies can never be overemphasized. However, this assertion requires further investigation with respect to consumers of Maggi seasoning products in Ghana especially those in Tamale metropolis. The study analyzed the effect of marketing strategies specifically sales promotion and perceived product quality on consumers’ purchasing behavior toward Maggi products in the Tamale metropolis of Ghana. To achieve this goal, the study adopted the quantitative approach, descriptive design and structured questionnaire. Valid data sets were retrieved from 162 food vendors in Tamale Metropolis. The IBM SPSS Statistics software version 26 was employed to process the data and subsequently analyzed with both descriptive and inferential tools. The study found all the marketing strategies to significantly influence the purchasing behaviors of consumers of Maggi products focusing on food vendors within the Tamale metropolis, Ghana. As a result, the research found that marketing strategies, particularly sales promotion and perceived product quality, have a major role in encouraging consumers to make better purchasing preferences. According to the research, Nestle Ghana could use more comprehensive methods, such as unique sales promotion packages, better pricing, and better product concepts in order to guarantee high purchasing behavior among its clientele. Unions are prominent stakeholders in employment relations (ER), representing and protecting the rights of their members and other employees on labour-related issues that the workforce is overwhelmed with within the workplace. The purpose of this article was to examine global unionism to advise South African (SA) Information and Communication Technology (ICT) sector labour unionism. It focuses on the recent trends of global literature review to answer five research questions. The rationale is to gain a more theoretical understanding of union roles, the International Labour Organisation (ILO) conventions, global unionism, SA unionism, SA ICT unionism, union challenges and strategies. Globally, unionism drives advancements in socio-economic policies, calling for social dialogue between the tripartite alliances partners in ER: Unions, employers, and the government. However, SA ICT union leaders are weak when negotiating for equity, socio-economic justice, and the advancement of employees in their careers. This research study revealed that union challenges include poor social dialogue, ineffective strategies to sustain membership, inefficient partnerships, and non-collaboration between management and unions. By the results of this study, a strategic framework was proposed for union effectiveness to provide Human Resources (HR), ER and union leaders with a practical management tool. Thus, this study contributes by expanding the body of knowledge on global and SA ICT unionism. analysis of this study, only 60-70 articles were analysed purposively, from which relevant findings were drawn out. The intensive, systematic literature review, document analysis and synthesis were the most appropriate method for this study because they explored the unionism strategy effectiveness using existing accredited, documented, and published evidence (Pratici and Singer, 2021).
20 citations
Dissertation•
01 Jan 2018
TL;DR: In this article, the authors present a survey of the role of public procedure in public administration, focusing on the following issues: 1 1.1.1, 2 1.2.3, 3 1.3.4.
Abstract: ..................................................................................................................................................... XIV CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................................... 1 1.1. PUBLIC PROCUREMENT PRACTICE ................................................................................................ 1 1.2. BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY ......................................................................................................... 2 1.3. RESEARCH PROBLEM ...................................................................................................................... 14 1.4. RESEARCH QUESTION ...................................................................................................................... 16 1.5. OBJECTIVES OF THE RESEARCH .................................................................................................. 17 1.6. MOTIVATION FOR THE STUDY ........................................................................................................ 17 1.7. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY ........................................................................................................... 18 1.7.1. RESEARCH METHODS .................................................................................................................. 19 1.7.2. TARGET POPULATION .................................................................................................................. 20 1.7.3. DATA COLLECTION ....................................................................................................................... 21 1.8. CHAPTER OUTLINE ............................................................................................................................ 21 1.9. CONCLUSION ...................................................................................................................................... 23 CHAPTER 2: CONCEPTUALISATION OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION ................................................. 25 2.
13 citations
Cites background from "Public Procurement and Competition:..."
...In order to attain value for money and to work as a proper tool for the public 39 sector, public procurement activities need to take place in competitive markets (Graells, 2016:2)....
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Posted Content•
TL;DR: In this article, an integrated analysis of the complex subject of financing public investments, based on an interdisciplinary approach that combines law with relevant theoretical approaches and methodologies in administrative and political sciences, is proposed.
Abstract: This monograph proposes an integrated analysis of the complex subject of financing public investments, based on an interdisciplinary approach that combines law with relevant theoretical approaches and methodologies in administrative and political sciences. It seeks to provide effective criteria and assessment mechanisms, together with clear legal structures to inform decisions made by public authorities about the financing of public investments. The first objective of this work is twofold: first, to identify legislative gaps and norms that impede on the performance of public investment projects and second, to provide the foundation for a comprehensive legal regime of the financing of public investments, by integrating the analyses of legal norms, principles and legal interpretations from relevant branches of law, which are currently confined to discrete and limitative legal analyses.
10 citations
26 Apr 2021
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors developed a conceptual framework in utilising the increase of information brought along by Extensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL) implementation to facilitate transparency as required by decision-makers during the contractor selection process.
Abstract: Amongst the predicament in selecting a contractor for project implementation is to identify a resilient partner who can withstand the financial impact posed by project risks and constraints. For that matter, decision-makers require full transparency of financial information of the candidates for an effective contractor selection process. In the context of Malaysia, authorities are adopting Extensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL) to convey information about companies financial standing. This study is aimed to develop a conceptual framework in utilising the increase of information brought along by XBRL implementation to facilitate transparency as required by decision-makers during the contractor selection process. This article is also articulating on factors to promote adoption of online business reporting to increase information integrity, recency and contextually to increase the transparency.
3 citations
Cites methods from "Public Procurement and Competition:..."
...This is also supported by Contract Theory and Principal-Agent Theory which prescribe asymmetric information in decision making requires full disclosure and transparency for better judgement (Bovis & Sanchez Graells, 2016; Li, Mishra, & Netessine, 2017)....
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Dissertation•
01 Apr 2013
TL;DR: In this article, the authors proposed a corruption risk-factor vulnerability check-list for the management of public procurement in Nigeria to achieve verifiable transparency and accountability in order to promote transparency in the process.
Abstract: Nigeria has consistently ranked 6th amongst oil-producing nations of the world but despite the enormous revenues from the sale of petroleum resources in the past five decades, the country has made little advance in terms of infrastructure, quality of life and the human development index. This has been attributed to endemic levels of
corruption through misappropriation of public funds for private use, most of which have been associated with public procurement.
The public procurement process in Nigeria has long been associated with corruption which involves misappropriation of public funds for private use. For example, the Transparency International (TI) Corruption Perception Index reports for 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012 indicate that much of public sector corruption in Nigeria is associated with the public procurement process. Between 2010 and 2012, Nigeria’s position on the corruption perception index of 183 countries surveyed by the TI, declined by 9 places to 143, an indication that current initiatives aimed at solving the problem have not been effective.
Efforts at improving the practice of public procurement in Nigeria and developing it into a reputable profession cannot be successful without considering the more fundamental question of the factors that may have made corruption in the process resistant to efforts aimed at curbing it. It is this gap that this study hopes to address in order to promote transparency in the process of public procurement in Nigeria. A total of 20 semi-structured interviews were conducted across four organisations. Findings from the interviews were further subjected to verification discussions at two other organisations.
Drawing from the case study analysis; greed, lack of inbuilt checks and wide discretionary powers of procurement officers under the direction of management emerged as possible risk factors motivating corruption in the public procurement
process thus offering an explanation of the vulnerability of the process to corruption. Building upon the theoretical debates, public procurement-related corruption in Nigeria is contextualised in a framework which proposes a corruption risk-factor vulnerability check-list for the management of public procurement in Nigeria to achieve verifiable transparency and accountability.
3 citations
References
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TL;DR: In this paper, the effect of multimarket contact on the degree of cooperation that firms can sustain in settings of repeated competition was examined and conditions under which multimarkET contact facilitates collusion were identified.
Abstract: Traditional analyses of industrial behavior typically link the exercise of market power in an industry to internalfeatures such as demand conditions, concentration, and barriers-to-entry. Nevertheless, some economists have remained concerned that external factors, such as contact across markets, may also play a significant role in determining the level of competitiveness in any particular industry. In this article, we examine the effect of multimarket contact on the degree of cooperation that firms can sustain in settings of repeated competition. We isolate conditions under which multimarket contact facilitates collusion and show that these collusive gains are achieved through modes of behavior that have been identified in previous empirical studies of multimarketfirms.
1,286 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors identify common elements of public procurement knowledge through a brief analysis of the literature and provide a summary of government efforts to improve public procurement practices using a systems approach as a method of inquiry.
Abstract: Academically, public procurement has been a neglected area of study even though governmental entities and public procurement practitioners have diligently worked to improve public procurement practices. This article will identify common elements of public procurement knowledge through a brief analysis of the literature and will provide a summary of government efforts to improve public procurement practices. In addition, this article will comprehensively re-examine public procurement by using a systems approach as a method of inquiry. Finally, implications of the proposed public procurement system regarding future research and study will be discussed.
542 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors consider the question of tacit collusion in repeated auctions with independent private values and with limited public monitoring, and they show that collusion better than bid rotation is still feasible, but full surplus cannot be extracted.
173 citations
Posted Content•
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors consider two-sided platforms as intermediaries between the two groups of customers and create efficiencies by lowering transactions costs and reducing duplication costs, which is relevant for antitrust analysis.
Abstract: Two-sided platform businesses serve distinct groups of customers and need each other in some way. They provide these customers a real or virtual meeting place, and they facilitate the interactions between members of these customer groups. They essentially act as intermediaries between the two groups and create efficiencies by lowering transactions costs and reducing duplication costs. Many significant industries are populated by businesses based on two-sided platforms. These include many traditional businesses, such as shopping malls, and most Internet-based businesses, such as social networks. Several economic conclusions that are relevant for antitrust analysis follow from the fact that these platforms are maximizing profits based on interlinked demand from the two sides. Prices on one side may be below marginal cost and possibly negative in long-run equilibrium. Many two-sided platforms in practice subsidize one side and earn profits on the other. Moreover, the standard result that the percent markup of price over marginal cost is inversely related to the elasticity of demand does not hold for either customer group. Antitrust analysis, tools, and techniques require modification when two-sided platforms account for a significant portion of supply. Failure to account for the consequences of interlinked demand between the two sides can lead antitrust analysis into serious error.
107 citations