The U.S. Federal Procurement System: An Introduction (original) (raw)
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We examine a new data set of laws and practices governing public procurement, as well as procurement outcomes, in 187 countries. We measure regulation as restrictions on discretion of the procuring agents. We find that laws and practices are highly correlated with each other across countries, better practices are correlated with better outcomes, but laws themselves are not correlated with outcomes. To shed light on this puzzle, we present a model of procurement in which both regulation and public sector capacity determine the efficiency of procurement. In the model, regulation is effective in countries with low public sector capacity, and detrimental in countries with high public sector capacity because it inhibits the socially optimal exercise of discretion. We find evidence broadly consistent with this prediction: regulation of procurement improves outcomes, but only in countries with low public sector capacity. 1 The authors are from the World Bank, the Peterson Institute for Int...
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Are states effectively managing contracting and procurement activities? Are they striking the right balance between central administrative control and empowerment through delegation? How effective is training and monitoring? How do these practices compare to the principles of best practice? What role will information technology play in the future for procurement and contracting? As part of the Government Performance Project, budget, procurement, and contracting managers in 48 states were surveyed, providing descriptions of their procurement and contracting practices. There are numerous developments that speak to the practical details of contemporary public management. Five key findings are (1) information technology needs are challenging states, with some responding well, but others struggling, (2) in most states staff training needs to be improved, (3) restrictions prohibiting "best value" purchasing need to be removed, (4) states can learn from and improve practices by partnering with other governments and private organizations, and (5) most states use a hybrid of both centralized and decentralized management structures when it comes to contracting and procurement.
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Public Expenditures Through Public Procurement
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Treaty of Rome of 1957 and following treaties on amending the Treaty of Rome contain a number of basic principles on which the EU is founded. Among these principles, the most important ones related to the public procurement are: prevention of discrimination based on nationality, free movement of goods; right and freedom of establishment of a business; the right to provide services. Spending of public money in Kosovo pursuant to the Law on Procurement is found on the following principles: economization and efficiency; equal treatment and non-discrimination; transparency; value for money. The average of open procedure application in EU countries is 73% based on notices, whereas in Kosovo is 82.80% based on notices. In the end of 2014, Kosovo commenced the development of electronic procurement platform. This project takes place within the Public Sector Modernization Project. The importance of the electronic procurement is stated in the statement of European Commission: “Modernization a...