Challenges in Public Procurement - unpcdc

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16 THAIprovide the goods and services required for the effective delivery of publicservices. There are, however, many cases of PPEs making purchasingdecisions that, taken together and over time, lead to undesirable marketstructures. The area of procurement influence on markets is underresearched, and the paper therefore draws upon a variety of primary andsecondary data from several research studies. The authors frame the issues,recognizing parties’ divergent interests, priorities and timescales, anddiscuss how public procurement agencies might develop their role andcapabilities to address them.In the United Kingdom, public procurement policy may be categorizedin terms of their regulatory, commercial and socio-economic focus,according to Andrew Erridge. In “U.K. Public Procurement Policy and theDelivery of Public Value,” the author analyzes U.K public procurementpolicy in terms of a framework of values culminating in the concept of‘public value’ reflecting not only government goals but also broader societalvalues. The author found that there has been partial delivery of commercialimprovements. The improvements, however, have been uneven acrossdepartments as there has been an overemphasis on regulatory requirementsat the expense of socio-economic development. While procurement’scontribution to wider government policy is increasing, its full potential willonly be realized when it is delivering on socio-economic policies andthereby contributing across the full range of values. This argument will beillustrated with particular reference to a pilot project on increasingemployment through public service and construction projects in NorthernIreland.In “Benchmarking Municipal Public Procurement Activities in Finland,”Timo Kivistö and Veli-Matti Virolainen compare and analyse differentkinds of procurement and logistics activities in municipalities and hospitaldistricts. Their research is based on a larger research project, called‘Lighthouse Project.’ The authors examine whether there were differencesin procurement between the municipal public organisations in Finland; (2)and how the Finnish municipal public entities differ from benchmarkinginformation in other countries. Finally, they try to identify best practices indifferent parts of municipal public procurement.Although the provision of basic public services has historically beenconsidered a core state function, during the last decade governments havebeen increasingly moving toward the various options of private participationin a constant quest to improve the quality of services in a cost-effectivemanner. There appear to be considerable advantages in “contracting out”services using performance-based schemes that delegate service to providers
CHALLENGES IN PUBLIC PROCUREMENT 17under legally binding agreements tying payments to measurable outputsdelivered at a predefined quality level. In “Performance-BasedProcurement: The Key to Effective Basic Services Provision in DevelopingCountries,” Patricia I. Baquero presents how the World Bank has been andis assisting its borrowers in developing countries so they may obtain thebenefits of applying, when deemed appropriate, these schemes to theprovision of infrastructure and social services under Bank-financed projects.In “Organizational and Individual Drivers of Compensation of PublicSector Buyers,” Mohamad G. Alkadry and N. Bhargava examine thedeterminants of salaries of buyers in the public sector. Analyzing datagathered from 304 buyers working for public procurement agencies, thearticle finds an effect on gender, supervisory responsibilities, experience,education, certification, and cost of living on the compensation of buyers.The authors found no statistically significant effect of budget size, age,organization size, and labor market competition on compensation of buyers.Analysis is conducted using multiple linear regressions with gender andcertification as dummy variables.CONCLUSIONAs mentioned, public procurement is a multi-faceted challenging field;and public procurement practitioners have faced numerous challengescaused by diverse factors. This book addresses some of these challenges.There are many others that have not been touched. Moreover, due to itsnature as elaborated above, public procurement practitioners will never getbored as they continue to face contradictory and contrasting procurementrequirements and objectives imposed by policies and trade agreements.There are many ways to help public procurement practitioners cope with themyriad challenges they must face. They include increased efforts inresearch, knowledge advancement, and experience exchanges.ACKNOWLEDGMENTSThe author wishes to thank Professor Cliff P. McCue of Florida AtlanticUniversity for his constructive comments; and Mary (Dickens) Johnson, aPh.D. student, the School of Public Administration, for carefully editing thechapter.NOTES1. Several years ago, the South Korean government faced a difficultchoice concerning one of the biggest arms deals in its history--the $4
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