ERF 26th Annual Conference
Regulatory Quality and Participation by Small Firms in Public Procurement
No.
ERF26_125
Publisher
ERF
Date
September, 2020
Topic
H5. National Government Expenditures and Related Policies
O1. Economic Development
This paper investigates the effects of good practices in public procurement on small and medium enterprises (SMEs), using a dataset for European procurement tenders and contract awards that includes information on SME participation. We find that better procurement regulation quality is associated with greater SME participation and higher probability that SMEs win contracts. Dividing contracts into smaller lots also bolsters participation by SMEs, but only increases the probability that SMEs win contracts if the value of a lot is small – with an estimated threshold value around €25,000. Counterfactual simulations suggest MENA governments can enhance participation by SMEs in public procurement by improving the overall quality of procurement regimes, including the timeliness of payment of suppliers.
Senior Associates
Bernard Hoekman
Professor and Director, Global Economics, Robert Schuman...
Research Fellows
Bedri Kamil Onur Tas
Associate Professor of Economics, College of Economics...