This paper presents a methodology and first results of the zIndex - a public procurement benchmarking tool for contracting authorities that measures a deviation from best practice recommendations. zIndex is a composite index mapping many issues in the areas of openness, competition and...

This paper addresses the question of whether government procurement can work as a de facto innovation policy tool. We develop an endogenous growth model with quality-improving in-novation that incorporates industries with heterogeneous innovation sizes. Government de-mand in high-tech industries...

The Government Purchase Card Program introduced purchase cards to streamline the acquisition of items and services under $2,500. Purchase cards have proved to be extremely efficient, with some estimates putting the savings for the Government at $75 per transaction. Unfortunately, the Government...

This paper aims to determine the extent to which corporate political contributions and the allocation of government procurement contracts are related. We gather information regarding the contributions made by 911 S&P500 companies in 9 congressional election cycles between 1993 and 2010, and...

Some U.S. local governments are leveraging public procurement to meet their sustainability goals. However, does the simultaneous pursuit of multiple sustainability objectives potentially slow down the speed of procurement processes? We suggest that the simultaneous pursuit of multiple...

Regulatory efforts on both sides of the Atlantic, in anti-corruption and procurement, are become more interdependent, as the two systems, U.S. and European, evolve in parallel. That convergence continued as the European Union finalized its new directives on procurement, and the United States and...

The construction sector plays a key role in providing structures for economies. This paper surveys the literature on key issues pertaining to the construction sector. It starts by summarizing our knowledge about differences in unit costs across time and space. It then discusses key bottlenecks...

While public environmental law, regulation and governance have paved the traditional road towards environmental and natural resource protection, the pathway has been expanded to include a broader orbit of interest areas and regulatory tools in an effort to achieve sustainability. Through the...

Governments may exclude vendors from procurement awards for many reasons, including poor performance and corruption. Excluding a vendor, whether from a particular procurement (deciding that the vendor is not qualified for award) or from an entire procurement system (suspending or debarring the...

The United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) has commissioned a working group, with delegations from many industrialized and developing nations, to reform and update the UNCITRAL Model Law on Procurement of Goods, Construction and Services. The working group is currently...