Public Procurement Objectives Research Articles

Managing dissonance: Bureaucratic justice and public procurement

AbstractThis article puts forward an analytical framework for understanding administrative justice. It does so by reading a leading approach, Jerry Mashaw's administrative justice models, in conjunction with the pragmatic sociology of Luc Boltanski and Laurent Thévenot, and their orders of worth framework. This provides an enhanced framework, which, while remaining consistent with Mashaw, offers additional insights and is particularly suitable for analyzing decisionmaking environments in the modern contracting state. The article illustrates the workings of the new framework by looking at a controversy under UK and EU law concerning the inclusion of labor objectives in public procurement. The discussion reveals a decisionmaking environment characterized by system dissonance. Actors must navigate different sets of tensions and tradeoffs between competing normative and ethical visions for procurement decisionmaking.

Public managers' valuation of secondary policy objectives in public procurement – results from a discrete choice experiment

Public managers' valuation of secondary policy objectives in public procurement – results from a discrete choice experiment

Public managers’ valuation of secondary policy objectives in public procurement – results from a discrete choice experiment

Governments are increasingly linking public procurement contracts to the attainment of secondary policy objectives. While not challenging the continuing dominance of price, this changes how service providers are selected. This study examines how public managers value environmental, innovative, and social goals against price in the public procurement of waste collection at the municipal level in Belgium. Using a discrete choice experiment, we study public managers’ valuation of secondary policy objectives. Additionally, to extend the external validity of our findings to different administrative structures, the same study has been replicated in three other countries (Norway, Germany, and Estonia). Although price remains crucial, we observe that public managers appear to be willing to pay more to increase the environmental, innovative, and social standards of public services.

Public procurement in Malaysia: objectives and procurement principles

PurposeThe objectives of this paper are twofold. Firstly, to examine the importance of Malaysian public procurement objectives and secondly, to investigate the extent to which government suppliers adhere to public procurement principles.Design/methodology/approachFor achieving the objectives, a questionnaire survey was used. A total of 250 questionnaires were distributed to government suppliers involved in the government tendering process. In return, a total of 107 useable questionnaires were received, representing a response rate of 42.8%. Descriptive statistics of the means score, standard deviation and mean score ranking were used to analyse the data.FindingsThe results revealed that the most important public procurement objective is “to ensure a continuous supply of material and services to meet the government needs from the best and reliable sources”. On the other hand, the objectives “to expand the local industrial sector by means of transfer of technology and expertise to suit the nation's needs” and “to promote alternative and multiple sourcing through supplier development according to the aspirations and vision of the government” are perceived as not important by the government suppliers. The findings also discovered a moderate level of adherence to Malaysia's public procurement principles, which consist of public accountability, transparency, open and fair competition, fair dealing and value for money. Amongst these principles, the most adhered to is the open and fair competition principle and the least adhered to is the transparency principle.Originality/valueThis study is one of the few studies that assess the government suppliers' perceptions of public procurement in Malaysia. More importantly, this study may give some ideas to various parties concerning the areas in which improvement is required to ensure that equal importance is given to the public procurement objectives and better adherence to the public procurement principles in Malaysia.

Measuring and Comparing the Regulatory Welfare State: Social Objectives in Public Procurement

This article constructs an index that translates the substance of policy documents into numeric values across three dimensions of regulation—a qualitative assessment of policy substance, its potential impact, and enforcement of regulation—which aims to capture the strength of social objectives in the economy. It draws on theories of economic regulation and literature on the welfare state to develop a general understanding of social objectives. The use of the index is illustrated through public procurement regulation in two European countries (France and Germany) and shows an overall increase in the strength of social objectives. It also highlights systematic differences in country priorities in the regulation of their economy. The index demonstrates that social regulation can be measured and compared in a meaningful way within and across countries.

Paweł Nowicki, Aksjologia prawa zamówień publicznych. Pomiędzy efektywnością ekonomiczną a instrumentalizacją, Towarzystwo Naukowe Organizacji i Kierownictwa, Stowarzyszenie Wyższej Użyteczności „Dom Organizatora”, Toruń 2019, ss. 407

The monograph Axiology of public procurement law by dr Paweł Nowicki is an example of a publication that is part of the general current research on the axiology of law. However, the issue of values in public procurement in general has not been intensively considered in Poland until now. It appeared most often as part of studies on separately analyzed issues of public procurement, including those related to the principle of fair competition, the principle of transparency and social or environmental aspects of public procurement. The author describes his research intentions as an attempt to identify the objectives of public procurement law in general. In accordance with his declaration, the author accomplished his task by analyzing source material, taking into account both EU public procurement law standards and national regulations. The conclusion of Dr. N owicki’s research indicates the complex nature of public procurement objectives, including not only purchasing functions, but also serving the implementation of specific values, including, e.g. fairness in competition, sustainable development or legal compliance. The author of Axiology thus presented the view that public procurement law ex natura implements many, not mutually exclusive, although serving different value goals.

The UNCITRAL model law: a guide for reforming the legal regulation of public procurement

The article presents a General description of the regulation of public procurement by the UNCITRALModel law on public procurement in 2011 as a tool for interstate integration in this area. Today, the issueof legal regulation of public procurement is relevant all over the world, and the direct subject is thestate itself, which is interested in the maximum efficiency of this process. The aim of the authors is toanalyze the above-mentioned document, which establishes common standards and norms in the fieldof regulation of public procurement. This paper presents a comparative analysis of the 1994 UNCITRALModel law on procurement of goods, construction and services and the 2011 UNCITRAL Model law onpublic procurement. This article emphasizes the legal and economic significance of public procurement.The authors ‘ conclusions are based on the work of foreign scientists and experts from international organizations.In conducting this study, the authors used such General scientific methods and techniquesas the method of comparative analysis, scientific abstraction, qualitative expert assessments, quantitativeassessments, and structural analysis. In their conclusions, the authors note that effective achievementof public procurement objectives can only be achieved through interrelated and consistent proceduresbased on the basic principles and conditions contained in the 2011 UNCITRAL Model law on publicprocurement.Key words: UNCITRAL, public procurement, efficiency, transparency, model law.

Multidimensionality of Sustainable Public Procurement (SPP)—Exploring Concepts and Effects in Sub-Saharan Africa and Europe

Strategic objectives in public procurement, such as environmental or social considerations, are being increasingly referred to under the umbrella term of sustainable public procurement (SPP). The concept of sustainability is intrinsically multidimensional, encompassing environmental, social, and economic aspects. However, the existing literature on SPP highlights the generalization that the regulation and practices of public procurement are biased toward the environmental dimension. There is conflicting evidence from countries in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) that calls for further investigation. Analyzing how SPP is actually constituted in SSA and contrasting it with the situation in the European Union (EU), as a spotlight on the Global South and North, contributes to a better understanding of sustainability in public procurement. The comparative analysis will help with understanding processes related to the integration or disintegration of sustainability dimensions in SPP. Our results indicate a contrary orientation on the environmental and the social dimensions in the EU and SSA. Although there is no sign of a comprehensive integration of all dimensions in SPP, there are developments toward the integration of the ‘missing’ dimension in the respective regional setting. Thus, at the moment, achieving a multidimensional implementation of SPP appears to be more a matter of expanding SPP practices of the ‘missing’ dimension than of pushing for integrated concepts.

Economic policies, objectives, and principles of the system of public procurement law

This article presents the problems of economic policies, which translate into the objectives and principles of the public procurement system, as well as their connection and interdependence with the objectives of public procurement law. The considerations indicate the relation of objectives as values serving the implementation of specific economic policies and their translation into the principles of the public procurement system and their inclusion in the normative part of the system of public procurement law. EU economic policies and public procurement objectives in the EU law, as well as the need to implement them into national law, have been analysed. The deliberations contain de lege ferenda postulates and are addressed to the legislator preparing a new law on public procurement.

On the Fuzzy Concept of Competition in Public Procurement

Effective competition is often recognized as instrumental to achieve the highest level of value for money in public procurement. At the same time, enlarging the set of participating firms is also seen as way to raise the intensity of competition. This paper argues that even in simple competitive environments with undifferentiated products the link between participation and competition is less obvious than normally assumed. Policy makers’ increasing concerns for primary as well as secondary objectives in public procurement tend to further weaken the link between participation and competion. Moreover, regulatory constraints to favor multi-award outcomes, while blurring the concept of competition altogether, risk to create the conditions for anti-competitive outcomes.

An organisational approach to sustainable public procurement

The adoption of social and environmental objectives in public procurement was aimed at addressing socio-economic justice and environmental protection in economic development. Studies found inefficiencies in the adoption of sustainable objectives by the public sector due to varied objectives adopted in public procurement and the inefficiency of the adoption process. A qualitative approach was undertaken to investigate the public sector's adoption of social and environmental objectives in public procurement that involved hierarchies, people, and the system of administration and governance. This study found that there were two types of structure in the public sector - a regulatory approach and a collaborative approach. These approaches were found to have different effects on the adoption of social and environmental objectives in public procurement. The findings provided contributions to organisational theory and the practise of public procurement policies and regulations.

An organisational approach to sustainable public procurement

The adoption of social and environmental objectives in public procurement was aimed at addressing socio-economic justice and environmental protection in economic development. Studies found inefficiencies in the adoption of sustainable objectives by the public sector due to varied objectives adopted in public procurement and the inefficiency of the adoption process. A qualitative approach was undertaken to investigate the public sector's adoption of social and environmental objectives in public procurement that involved hierarchies, people, and the system of administration and governance. This study found that there were two types of structure in the public sector - a regulatory approach and a collaborative approach. These approaches were found to have different effects on the adoption of social and environmental objectives in public procurement. The findings provided contributions to organisational theory and the practise of public procurement policies and regulations.

The Impact of the Case-Law of the Court of Justice of the European Union in the Field of Public Procurement

AbstractThe article examines the case-law of the Court of Justice of the European Union on Public Procurement issues. On the one hand, the paper analyzes the control exercised by the Court in this area while the Member States implement the Public Procurement Directives by transposing them into national law or by administrative practice which is subject to judicial review. The Court's control is executed through the interpretation of provisions and through actions taken by the European Commission against Member States for breaches of EU law in the area of Public Procurement. On the other hand, in the references for a preliminary ruling, the Court of Justice of the EU defines some basic terms, such as 'public procurement' (at Union level), a contractor, a minimum threshold, etc., and affirms the key principles that must be respected for the fulfilment of Public Procurement objectives such as transparency, competition and equal treatment. The article aims to show the contribution of the case-law of the Court of Justice of the European Union to the development and uniform application of Public Procurement legislation in the Member States and facilitates the functioning of the Internal market