Value creation in the international public procurement market: In search of springbok firms

Abstract

Public procurement accounts for more than 10% of global GDP. Digital transformation of public procurement creates new opportunities for value creation in international markets. Identifying and analyzing the companies, especially the SMEs, that can capitalize on these opportunities is therefore an important issue for policymaking, management, and scientific research. This study linked microdata on selected bidders from the Tenders Electronic Daily (TED) e-procurement portal and the Orbis database. Based on a sample of 933 Spanish companies, the analysis provides empirical support for the cross-border size bias conjecture. The reason for this bias is the predominance of large companies among those that serve both domestic and cross-border procurement markets. This bias disappears when the focus is placed exclusively on the cross-border market. This conclusion enables the identification and description of a herd of springbok firms. These springbok firms are defined as SMEs that eschew the domestic public procurement market to focus on the cross-border market.