Comparative analysis of public procurement and public financial management within Asia and Africa

Abstract

As procurement processes in many developing countries are without transparency, addressing agency problems becomes necessary. This study reflects on public procurement and public financial management in a comparative analysis within Asia and Africa through the agency theory lens. With a descriptive case study design, the study utilises datasets from 100 Asian and African countries from 2002 to 2018. The distinctiveness of this paper is that it uses public expenditure framework and accountability procurement indicators to ascertain whether agency cost has increased in both continents. The results showed that Asia performed better than Africa in all the indicators except for voice and accountability, and procurement complaint management. There is also clear evidence to suggest that procurement decisions reduce agency cost in Asia than in Africa. The study, therefore, concludes that Asian countries tend to converge more to international standards during procurement processes than African countries, which leads to efficient PFM outcomes.