Corruption In Public Procurement Research Articles

Corruption in public procurement: Can e-procurement and artificial intelligence make a difference in Africa?

Corruption in public procurement: Can e-procurement and artificial intelligence make a difference in Africa?

When corruption creates its Mafia. The “middle-world” case in Rome

AbstractThe judicial operation “mondo di mezzo” (middle-world) revealed in 2014 the existence of a criminal network in Rome, dubbed Mafia capitale. Its main function was the governance of a systemic corruption scheme that permeated many sectors of the public administration and the political process of the Italian capital city. Notwithstanding a convulsed judicial history, the network analytically manifests traits of a mafia-type group. Through a qualitative content analysis of intercepted materials, juridical files, and interviews, this paper argues that the peculiar systemic corruption scheme of Mafia capitale has indeed generated mafia-type behaviours. Mafia capitale interconnected corruption and collusion in public procurement, corruption in the bureaucratic and electoral processes (the upperword) together with enforcement of deals from the underworld. This mafia-type group was able to enforce extra-legal deals, through reputational assets and intimidation, inducing people into compliance and silence and gaining benefits for a period of almost three years.

Understanding with a Practical Perspective the Corruption Mode of Goods/Services Procurement in Indonesian Public Organizations

This research aims to clarify the study of corruption in public procurement in public organizations in Indonesia, which when studied through the dimensions of anthropology and democracy is considered too broad in scope and cannot touch the main substance in the discussion of corruption that is specific to public organizations. Corruption in public procurement management in Indonesia is still seen as part of unethical behavior and from a rational perspective is also seen as deviant behavior. The factors for the formation of unethical behavior and categorized as deviant behavior are due to, among others, the structural pressure factors of individuals in public organizations and the intervention factors of parties ranging from vendors, state administrators, and state officials in providing "lure" in the form of gifts or rewards for state administrators and state officials to abuse authority. The results of the study successfully identified modes of corruption in the procurement of goods/services based on the stages and perpetrators of corruption. Corruption in particular in Indonesia is also caused by the weak supervision and management system for preventing corruption in Indonesia. The design of an appropriate and credible public procurement method is one of the solutions to reduce the risk of corruption that begins with the public procurement process. The e-Purchasing method with the e-Cataloque mechanism without negotiations with vendors as a concrete manifestation of the selection of goods/services procurement methods is considered to be very supportive of corruption prevention efforts in Indonesia, because it can directly limit corrupt behavior in public organizations. The novelty, in this study, is to provide recommendations for improvement in the form of a recommendation system design for government procurement of goods/services that is more directed at prioritizing the use of the e-Purchasing method with the e-Cataloque mechanism to reduce the risk of corruption in government spending.

A neural network approach for predicting corruption in public procurement

A neural network approach for predicting corruption in public procurement

Public Procurement Rules and the Prevention of Corruption

The article points out the difficulties of defining the phenomenon of corruption, the main risks of public procurement related to the occurrence of corrupt behaviour, and the role of the proper application of public procurement rules as tools for the prevention of corruption. This is because these principles are a guide for the contracting authority on how to take certain actions during the procedure, and which ones to avoid in order to ensure that the public procurement procedure is carried out in a lawful manner and that public funds are spent in an efficient and reasonable manner. Where discretionary slack exists, this is an indicator of the proper use of the discretion left to the contracting authority. The risk of corruption in public procurement is mainly due to the fact that significant public funds are spent in the course of public procurement, and the risk of bribery or collusion in tendering exists, regardless of the stage of the procedure.

Значение оперативно-розыскных способов выявления коррупционных преступлений в сфере госзакупок

Introduction: Economic development of the country, its security, implementation of national programmes are ensured by the state and municipal orders. Transactions involving the expenditure of significant amounts of budget funds in the sphere of public procurement constitute favourable conditions for the commitment of various corruption offences. Thus, the state takes control over them and, if necessary, take measures to suppress such crimes. Criminals use a wide range of methods. They formally comply with the rules and procedure of tendering to achieve self-interested personal goals. Identification of such dishonest customers can be done by means of control measures, both public (in the form of scheduled and unscheduled checks) and covert.
 Methods. Public control in the public procurement sphere is not enough to protect the economic interests of the country. Law enforcement intelligence, utilizing covert human intelligence sources, provides timely and efficient acquisition and the use of information being necessary to prevent, suppress and solve non-obvious, latent and covert corruption offences. The use of covert law enforcement intelligence against unlawful acts in the system of the state and municipal procurement appears to be crucial for the proper functioning of this system.
 Results. The present-day practice reveals that in order to effectively tackle corruption in public procurement, it is necessary to use a comprehensive approach involving the application of administrative legal measures and law enforcement intelligence.

Public procurement accounting as a tool to end corruption in Ghana: Forensic Accounting Perspective

This study's goal was to show how, by applying natural principles to human laws, forensic accounting might be utilized as a tactic to combat corruption in public procurement. Ten public universities in Ghana were selected for the survey, and in 2023 it examined views regarding policy fairness, government performance, and deterrent. 109 questionnaires were distributed to the procurement officers of the selected institutions using a simple random sampling. The collected data were subjected to a multiple linear regression analysis using the Smart PLS software. The study concluded that forensic accounting was ineffective in stopping procurement misconduct. It also discovered that there is currently very little usage of forensic accounting by the government. Governments at all levels ought to be more interested in forensic accounting and accountants, the report suggests, in order to keep an eye on and look into fraud cases that have been shown to be fraudulent. The management of the procurement authority needs to improve the criminology training provided to accountants and auditors. This training should concentrate on topics such as the nature and extent of financial crimes, ethical concerns, investigation, and remediation. This is necessary if forensic science is to be utilized as the primary tool for corruption and fraud prevention. The administration must also give careful consideration to the impartiality, independence, and reason of the courts.

Business’ Attitudes Towards Corruption in Selected Central European Countries

Purpose: Corruption is perceived as a widespread problem throughout the world, including in Central European countries. In terms of corruption, these countries still lag behind the leading EU countries (as indicated by the 2023 Worldwide Governance Indicators). As corruption itself is very difficult to measure, the perception of corruption is often used as a proxy. The aim of this paper is to analyse attitudes towards corruption in selected Central European countries and to draw conclusions on the factors influencing these perceptions. Based on the assumption that the difference between de jure and de facto transparency matters, we selected Czechia, Hungary, and Poland as countries with small differences between these two dimensions of transparency, and Croatia, Slovakia, and Slovenia as countries with large differences.Design/Methodology/Approach: Using Eurobarometer data, we applied logistic regression to analyse attitudes towards corruption in the two groups of countries distinguished by differences in de jure and de facto transparency. Each group, consisting of three Central European countries, was used to create a model, i.e., Model 1 and Model 2, with a total number of observations of 901 and 902, respectively. Both models displayed adequate fit indices and enabled predictions that allowed us to draw conclusions. All respondents were business representatives with decision-making responsibilities in their companies, ensuring that the results reflect company perceptions rather than those of the general public.Findings: Attitudes towards corruption in the countries studied are related to perceptions of patronage and nepotism in business, perceptions of corruption in public procurement, perceived links between politics and business, and attitudes towards tax rates. In the group where there is little difference between de jure and de facto transparency levels, business attitudes towards corruption are also associated with perceptions of adequacy of infrastructure and complexity of administrative procedures. In the countries where these differences are substantial, attitudes towards corruption are related to perceptions of problems arising from frequent changes in the law, problems with debt collection, and differences in views regarding the severity of bribery depending on the value of the bribe.Academic contribution to the field: This research provides a better understanding of the factors influencing the perception of corruption in Central European countries from a business perspective. In doing so, it introduces a methodology that is well-suited for the analysis of survey-collected data, especially since it allows the dependent variable to be categorical. Moreover, by using data from the Transparency Index to differentiate countries, the study has the potential to stimulate further theoretical and empirical research into the relationship between corruption and transparency. Lastly, by linking companies’ perceived problems to overall perceptions of corruption, this paper helps to identify the areas within the studied countries where pockets of corruption are most likely to exist.Originality/Value: Previous research has found that corruption tends to occur when the gap between de facto and de jure transparency is larger. This research demonstrates that the size of this gap can also be successfully used to achieve a better understanding of the factors influencing attitudes towards corruption. Therefore, this paper employs the difference between de jure and de facto transparency as a categorisation criterion to analyse the factors influencing the perception of corruption. This categorisation approach enabled the development of two separate logistic regression models with high predictive power.

Public Procurement Nexus Social for Mitigate the Corruption: Lesson from Indonesia

This study delves into the vulnerability of Indonesia's National Budget (APBN) to corruption, specifically in the Procurement of Goods and Services, with a particular focus on the potential for misallocation across regions. Building on significant scholarly contributions from both Indonesian and international researchers, the research undertakes a thorough examination of preventive measures against corruption in public procurement. Employing a Participatory Action Research (PAR) approach, the study integrates community solidarity into its corruption prevention model, utilizing a combination of data collection methods such as questionnaires, interviews, and focus group discussions (FGDs). A central topic in the study is the important role of e-procurement in combating corruption, advocating for its transparent and accountable application as a deterrent. To bolster preventive efforts, the research proposes mandatory declarations from tender participants, along with an enhanced auction rebuttal mechanism throughout the various stages of procurement. The preventative framework underscores the significance of civilian, academic, and journalistic supervision to proactively identify corruption and conflicts of interest. Recognizing the nuanced nature of fraud patterns at the provincial level, the study advocates for a region-specific approach to maximize the effectiveness of e-procurement. This regional focus aligns with the study's emphasis on the involvement of relevant agencies operating at the local level. In essence, this research contributes a targeted analysis to complement existing literature, aiming to curb corruption in public procurement through strategic and context-specific preventive measures.

Firm performance, imperfect competition, and corruption risks in procurement: evidence from Swedish municipalities

Previous research has shown that corruption risks may distort market incentives in high-risk contexts. However, there is a dearth of evidence on the potential impact of corruption in settings characterized by low corruption and high-quality institutions. Against that background, this paper delves deeper into the alleged consequences of corruption by examining the link between corruption risks in public procurement and the profitability of firms in the Swedish construction industry. We introduce a novel measure of corruption risk based on the share of single bidder contracts that a firm has won. Validity analysis confirms that our measure is correlated with an alternative corruption measure and local tender winners. Our results reveal that firms that win many single bidder contracts have higher profitability than other firms in the sector: 10 percentage points higher single bidding rate firms have a 0.2–0.6-percentage-point higher sales margin. The findings underscore that public procurement corruption risks distort markets and economic incentives, and that this risk is present even in low-corruption contexts such as in Sweden.

Did pandemic responses trigger corruption in public procurement? Comparing Italy and Germany

ABSTRACT Public procurement is crucial for effective crisis responses, but is also prone to corruption. To ensure a swift provision of medical supplies in the COVID-19 pandemic, the public procurement regulations were dramatically relaxed. However, the implications for corruption require attention. This paper analyses how the regulatory responses to the crisis affected the risks and perceptions of corruption, by changing public-private interactions and the regulatory environment for public procurement. We compare the contrasting cases of Italy and Germany and triangulate legal analyses, secondary contract and survey data, and an online survey of public administrations (N = 445) and businesses (N = 175). Unexpectedly, in both countries, objective risks of corruption increased similarly. Sector-specific corruption perceptions stem from a low competitiveness of procedures, rule ambiguity, and a politicised bureaucracy. To avoid wasting resources and losing trust, regulatory responses to the crisis should include clear rules that safeguard competitive public procurement procedures and preserve bureaucratic independence.

Institutions, corruption and transparency in effective healthcare public procurement: Evidence from Central and Eastern Europe

ABSTRACT The benefits of good procurement practices in the healthcare sector are well known. Indeed, the importance of transparent, effective and efficient procurement of medical goods and services has gained momentum even more in light of the recent Covid-19 pandemic. However, there is little evidence of how traditional factors occurring on a procedure or contract level affect the effectiveness of public purchases when they take play in different institutional environments. This paper, therefore, contributes to this evidence using a large sample of public contracts in healthcare sectors awarded in 11 Central and East European Countries. The results support the previous evidence on the important role of transparency and open competitive bidding. Procedures with a prior call for competition and allowing for an unrestricted number of competitors lead to cost-effective contracts and higher direct savings. Effective government and lessening corruption have proven to facilitate better procurement outcomes, considering the financial aspects of awarded contracts. Moreover, the results on the effects of institutions contribute to the current academic debate by providing insight into the mechanism of obtaining cost-effectiveness and showing that strong institutions can play an important role in mitigating the adverse procurement outcomes related to less transparent and competition-restricting procedures.

Negative Consequences of Corruption in Public Procurement

The subject matter of the study deals with the norms of national legislation on combating corruption and public procurement, as well as research works on the negative consequences of corruption in public procurement. The purpose of the study is to examine and systematize knowledge about the negative consequences of corruption in public procurement. The objectives of the study are: to examine provisions of national legislation on combating corruption in public procurement; interdisciplinary research of approaches to considering the consequences of corruption and its individual manifestations in public procurement; systematization of the negative consequences of corruption in public procurement using methods of grouping and typologization. In the course of the study, the author identified the normative prerequisites for the relevance of studying the issue posed. The analysis of the results of the research on the consequences of corruption and its individual manifestations in the field of public procurement allowed us to identify two groups of such consequences: internal and external. Economic, legal, social, political, moral and psychological negative consequences are identified using the method of typologization. When applying an interdisciplinary approach to the study of the negative consequences of the phenomenon under consideration, the author identified the industry-wide nature of such consequences, consisting in their harmful effects not only on the public procurement system itself, but also on other spheres of public life and, subsequently, on all major state and public mechanisms.

An Assessment of the Level of Impacts of Corruption as Risk on Public Procurement Performance: A Case Study of Selected Record Systems in Nigeria

Many researchers have revealed that corruption is associated with adverse effects on the sustainable development of the country. However, the rapid increase in measures to combat corruption globally portrays a picture of the losses due to corruption. Corruption, especially in developing countries, mainly manifests in the public procurement sectors due to the large amount of money involved. The emergence of covid-19 has also amplified corruption cases in the procurement of medical supplies in West Africa and the world. This conference paper examined the extent of corruption in public procurement in Nigeria, particularly the record systems. The paper was guided by various research questions, including; To what extent does corruption affect the performance of public procurement in Nigeria?, What are the various ways in which corruption affect the public procurement record systems in Nigeria?, What are the most effective methods of combating corruption in the public procurement systems in Nigeria?. The study employed a qualitative research method using a systematic review of the literature to answer these research questions. The study revealed that the systemic corruption in Nigeria could be combated using non-state approaches as compliments to the state-based plans. It also provides the reasons why corruption has persisted in Nigeria. Keywords: Corruption, Public Procurement, Performance

КОРРУПЦИОННЫЕ РИСКИ В ПРАВОВОМ ОБЕСПЕЧЕНИИ ФИНАНСИРОВАНИЯ ПУБЛИЧНЫХ ЗАКУПОК

Introduction: in the Russian Federation, a significant part of the budget is spent on ensuring public interest by procuring goods, works, and services. The disposition of budgetary funds in all countries of the world is characterized as a corruption risk. This study examines the problems of legal provision for public procurement in the Russian Federation taking the national anti-corruption measures into account. The practice of anti-corruption measures implemented in public procurement in foreign countries is also considered. Purpose: to identify the signs of corruption in public procurement from the perspective of the risk-based approach in order to prepare proposals for optimization of legal regulation and improving the financial efficiency of national public procurement. Methods: the research uses general scientific me-thods (analysis, synthesis, analogy) as well as formal legal and comparative legal methods. Results: the analysis of law enforcement practice in public procurement in Russia and foreign countries revealed some corruption risks that were further classified. The presented author's classification can become a ba-sis for creating a set of coordinated legal, financial, and personnel measures to prevent corruption in public procurement. Conclusions: to focus the attention of legislative and executive authorities on mini-mizing the negative consequences of corruption in public procurement, the author's classification of cor-ruption risks is proposed. There should necessarily be a system of monitoring over the results obtained in the procurement process. The paper proposes removing corruption offenses in procurement from under criminal prosecution and placing them under the scope of financial responsibility, which would ensure commensurable personal financial responsibility of an official whose actions (inaction) caused damage to the budget.

Preventing and Fighting Corruption on Public Procurement in Portugal:

This article analyses the legal regimes implemented in Portugal for the prevention and combating of corruption in public procurement. Although it is not a new theme, it has received new updates in the law dedicated to the regulation of public procurement – ie, the Public Procurement Code; some of the novelties arising from the imposition of European Union Law on public procurement – while others result from the recent national strategy for the prevention and combating of corruptive phenomena. The implementation of the referred strategy – which covers several areas of action – also benefits matters of public procurement. This has resulted in a set of normative solutions that have strengthened the prevention of corruption, both from an organisational perspective (with the creation of a new public agency for the prevention of corruption) and from an activity perspective (by imposing corruption risk prevention plans, codes of conduct, training programmes and reporting channels, including on contracting authorities). These solutions, particularly the one related to whistleblowing channels, have been reinforced by the recent ‘European Whistleblowing Directive’, which led to the approval of a new national whistleblower protection scheme with immediate relevance in public procurement. Keywords: public procurement; corruption; rule of law; conflict of interests

Informal practices and efficiency in public procurement

IMPACT In environments with incentives for opportunism, effective tools to limit corruption in public procurement are necessary. The authors show that monitoring and law enforcement tools are more important than the strict regulation. A simple transfer of regulation from developed countries to transitional economies does not deliver the desired procurement performance without proper enforcement. Regulators need to consider the scale of opportunism among procurement participants—if it is high, it is necessary to focus on monitoring and law enforcement capabilities.

Black economic empowerment, development and seeking justice at South African municipalities: A closer look at two case studies

Although South African and international research has been enriched by a wide variety of empirical findings regarding supply chain management (SCM) corruption in South Africa, there is a significant gap in the literature, particularly in terms of the direct and indirect connections of black economic empowerment (BEE) entrepreneurs, local government and to processes of SCM at South African municipalities. This study is based on an inductive, qualitative and interpretative methodology aimed at analysing and dissecting relationships in the context of BEE entrepreneurs engaging in corruption. Within this realm of corruption, the article also looks at the role of supply chain and procurement at two South African municipalities. The municipalities selected were situated in both urban and rural areas in KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape. The eight interviewees represented the political, administrative and workers’ sections of the municipalities. The findings pinpoint the realities of aspects of BEE associated with the nature of corruption in public procurement in the municipalities and the influence of BEE entrepreneurs in processes of corruption, particularly in SCM functions and processes.Contribution: Corruption remains a key threat to South Africa’s young democracy. This is particularly true at the local level, the central pivot in our society building exercise. A multidisciplinary journal of this nature will benefit from the focus of this article, particularly in light of the fact that it also hopes to ignite thought around the moral ramifications of rampant corruption in South Africa.

The promise of artificial intelligence in combating public corruption in the emerging economies: A conceptual framework

Abstract In this conceptual paper, we explore how artificial intelligence (AI) holds promise as an important and additional tool for combating corruption in public procurement in emerging economies. We aim to extend the understanding of how the emergent technology of AI may be another important tool in the fight against corruption in emerging economies. We discuss how AI and related emergent technologies can help build greater accountability and transparency regimes in public procurement, a key source of public corruption. We argue that there are infrastructural, social, ethical, and political challenges to the successful use of emerging technologies of AI in the fight against public corruption. We make inferences from the discussion and provide some tentative guidelines for policymakers. We suggest that using AI as part of a program of institutional reforms in the public sector would increase technology’s role and contributions to the fight against systemic corruption in public procurement in emerging economies.

Corporate entertainment expenses and corruption in public procurement

Viewing corporate entertainment of public officials as a form of bribes, Korea recently adopted a strong regulation against such practice (the Antigraft Act of 2016). In this paper, we investigate whether the regulation succeeded in reducing corruption in public procurement. An examination of the procurement system in Korea suggests that bribe-paying firms submit lower bids to procurement auctions than non-bribe-paying firms and that the difference in bid aggressiveness between bribe-paying and non-bribe-paying firms can be used as an indicator of the prevalence of corruption. Using the bidding data of firms participating in Korea Online E-Procurement System (KONEPS) auctions, we document that this indicator of corruption declined after the new regulation was adopted. We conclude that the new regulation reduced the entertainment-expense channel of corruption in public procurement.