Designing Public Procurement Policy In Developing Countries

This book presents effective strategies for developing countries to leverage their public sector demand for manufactured imports to promote industrialization, trade, and technology transfer. Technology transfer and its absorption is considered one of the most crucial and complicated challenges for developing countries, which are characterized by insufficient infrastructure, low technological intensity of the domestic capital stock, and high levels of manufactured imports. Which strategies and policy tools can governments employ to link demand with technology transfer, thereby enhancing absorption capacity and development in emerging economies? This book is part of a broader project launched by PGlobal Global Advisory and Training Services Ltd., in cooperation with Istanbul Commerce University (İTUCU) and the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TÜBİTAK). The contributors to this book are policymakers, academicians, and experts who are working together to identify problems and develop policy recommendations for public procurement with respect to economic development. The book includes theoretical, empirical, and case study analyses of technology transfer mechanisms, public procurement policies, and countertrade and offset strategies. The lessons learned from these chapters will be of interest to both academics and policymakers concerned with technology transfer, industrial policy, and economic development.

The decision not to launch negotiations in the World Trade Organization (WTO) on three of the Singapore Issues in the so-called July 2004 package provides an opportunity to revisit the knowledge base on which proposals for further international collective action may be drawn. This paper examines the available evidence on public procurement practices in developing countries that could be relevant to further multilateral rule making on state purchasing. Although there is considerable agreement on ends (efficient, non-corrupt, and transparent public purchasing systems), little information is available on means and, in particular, on the effective and replicable strategies that developing countries can adopt to improve their public procurement systems. A concerted effort to substantially add to the knowledge base on public procurement reforms in developing countries, through targeted research and international exchange of information on implemented procurement policies and outcomes, is critical to identifying areas where further binding multilateral disciplines may be beneficial.

This book presents strategies for developing countries to shift demand for manufactured imports into a tool for technology transfer, enhancing absorption capacity and development. Also shows how national procurement policy can assist technological development.

This edited collection fills a significant gap in the literature by gathering contributions from the most prominent academics and practitioners of aid and procurement. It explores the economic, political and legal relationship between procurement and aid effectiveness in developing countries, and takes stock of current debates in the field. More specifically, the contributions analyse the failures and successes of current initiatives to foster effectiveness and streamline the aid procurement process, and address current themes emerging in the literature related to development, procurement and aid success. A pivotal and timely publication, Public Procurement and Aid Effectiveness will be of interest to a varied and multicultural international audience and a wide range of actors working on aid effectiveness, development, procurement and good governance initiatives in both donor and beneficiary countries.

"Infrastructure is crucial for developing countries and needs enormous investment. Efficiency in its provision is all the more important at a time in which available resources are shrinking. In this brilliant book Estache and Iimi consistently bring together elements from many fields of economics and analyze a large amount of original data to provide guidance towards efficient infrastructure provision. They convincingly make the case that competitive, transparent public procurement is the best way ahead; and highlight the many subtle issues involved in designing effectively competitive procurements, a daunting task for such large projects and in countries with weak institutions and high risk of corruption. The book is a must-read for anyone who studies or works on these very important issues." Giancarlo Spagnolo, Professor of Economics, University of "Rome Tor Vergata" "Public provision of infrastructure will remain the dominant paradigm for many countries and many types of infrastructure services. As such, improving public procurement is central to our ability to cost-effectively provide services to the 1.5 billion individuals that still do not have access to electricity, and the many more who live without safe water or lack access to reliable transport infrastructure. Effective public procurement is also at the heart of the growth agenda as developing countries are struggling to provide their growing economies with the infrastructure they need despite tight fiscal conditions. This book provides us with new insights on how to effectively and efficiently use scarce public resources. This extremely useful and insightful book offers policy-makers a wealth of suggestions to make their procurement systems smarter and an effective tool for development." Marianne Fay, Chief Economist, Sustainable Development Network, The World Bank

The decision not to launch negotiations in the World Trade Organization (WTO) on three of the Singapore Issues in the so-called July 2004 package provides an opportunity to revisit the knowledge base on which proposals for further international collective action may be drawn. This paper examines the available evidence on public procurement practices in developing countries that could be relevant to further multilateral rule making on state purchasing. Although there is considerable agreement on ends (efficient, non-corrupt, and transparent public purchasing systems), little information is available on means and, in particular, on the effective and replicable strategies that developing countries can adopt to improve their public procurement systems. A concerted effort to substantially add to the knowledge base on public procurement reforms in developing countries, through targeted research and international exchange of information on implemented procurement policies and outcomes, is critical to identifying areas where further binding multilateral disciplines may be beneficial.

As governments are major buyers of goods and services, foreign companies are keen to be able to participate in procurement opportunities on an equal footing with national firms. This has given rise to the inclusion of procurement disciplines in trade agreements and to internationally-agreed good regulatory practices in this important policy area. The contributions to this book examine how the dynamic mix of bilateral, regional, plurilateral and international norms on government procurement is reflected in purchasing practices at the national level and whether these are leading to convergence in policies and approaches. The countries studied span both advanced, high-income economies and emerging economies. Some are members of the WTO procurement agreement, others are not. Most WTO members have decided not to commit to binding international disciplines on procurement in trade agreements. This book explores whether there has been nonetheless internationalization of good procurement practices, and what current public purchasing processes suggest as regards the value added of signing on to binding rules of the game in this area. The approach taken in the volume is interdisciplinary. Contributors include economists, political scientists, legal scholars, and practitioners with a solid understanding of both the extant international disciplines and national government procurement policies. Each chapter assesses the current state of play as regards legislation and procurement practices; the degree to which industrial policy considerations feature in the relevant regulatory frameworks; the existence and use of domestic dispute resolution and review procedures that allow firms to contest the behavior of procuring entities; and the availability of data on procurement processes and outcomes.