The power of public procurement: social equity and sustainability as externalities and as deliberate policy tools

Public Administration Review

Neshkova

et al. 2022

The economic response of the US government to the COVID‐19 pandemic envisions massive investment in infrastructure construction. Yet, governments contract out public works and might lack the capacity to meet the increased demand for new construction. Drawing on a mix of survey and interview data, we identify critical deficiencies in contract capacity that might lead to a loss of public resources and further erode trust in the government. We propose a plan for restructuring public procurement systems and offer solutions around four foci: collaboration, training, flexibility, and sustainability. This transformation path would enhance government contract capacity and use markets to signal a demand for sustainable infrastructure and create public value in line with the strategic objectives of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Deal.

Section: Sustainabilitymentioning

confidence: 99%

How can procurement create (sustainable) public value under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Deal?

Patrucco

Public Administration Review

Neshkova

et al. 2022

“…In public management, procurement represents a key policy area to achieve social equity objectives (Alkadry et al, 2019). Procurement in the public sector has typically been viewed as a basic administrative process involving contract management and the application of specific regulations (Patrucco et al, 2017; Trammell et al, 2020).…”

Section: Theorymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In recent years, especially in response to the COVID‐19 pandemic and economic crisis, it is evident that procurement plays a strategic role in the effective implementation of policy reforms (Patrucco et al, 2022). Research and practice have demonstrated that public procurement can be strategically utilized to improve value for money (e.g., Erridge and Mcllroy, 2002; Loader, 2007; Reis & Cabral, 2015; Patrucco et al, 2017) and public value (e.g., Erridge, 2007), increase market innovation (e.g., Edler & Georghiou, 2007), achieve social, economic, and environmental goals (e.g., Alkadry et al, 2019), and reduce unemployment and improve working conditions (e.g., Grandia & Meehan, 2017).…”

Section: Theorymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Procurement and contracting of goods and services represent a significant percentage of overall annual government spending (e.g., Netherlands 45.8 percent, Japan 41.6 percent, Germany 35.3 percent, Canada 32.3 percent, UK 31.7 percent; OECD, 2021). While public values like efficiency and effectiveness frequently drive contracting decisions, it has become increasingly clear that government contracting can be an important tool for advancing social equity (Alkadry et al, 2019). By making social equity a foundational anchor and a pillar of procurement decisions, governments can implement ad‐hoc initiatives that can ensure equal and fair small disadvantaged business enterprises (SDBE) participation in government contracts, which may spur financial prosperity and stability within minority communities and small disadvantaged businesses (Cepiku & Mastrodascio, 2021; Veronica et al, 2020).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Social equity in federal contracting during emergencies: A portfolio management perspective

Public Administration Review

Patrucco

Rodriguez‐Plesa

et al. 2023

While the U.S. federal government strives to advance social equity in government contracting through various policies to support small disadvantaged business enterprises (SDBEs), entry barriers persist. Drawing on federal government spending data from the initial response to the COVID‐19 pandemic, this study estimates logistic and multinomial logistic regressions using portfolio management theory to understand what factors can favor SDBE participation in government contracts during the immediate response to emergencies and whether these factors differ when governments award strategic versus non‐strategic contracts. The results show that governments do not necessarily have to reduce competition to favor SDBE participation in government contracts, as some of these suppliers can participate and win competitive procedures. Although non‐SDBE suppliers were still more likely to be awarded contracts during the initial emergency response, SDBE suppliers were more likely to win procedures for strategic and important supplies.

“…Innovation has increasingly become more critical to the procurement function as a procedural instrument that may be utilized to achieve secondary policy goals (e.g., environmental protection, social equity, etc.) (Alkadry et al, 2019; Demircioglu & Vivona, 2021). Additionally, by increasing demand for innovation, public procurement can be a substantive instrument for governments to spur market innovation (Demircioglu & Vivona, 2021; Edler & Georghiou, 2007).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Human Capital Drivers of Employee Intent to Innovate: The Case of Public Procurement Professionals

Review of Public Personnel Administration

Abutabenjeh

Rodriguez‐Plesa

et al. 2022

Self Cite

Innovation is often promoted as the path to overcoming the burdens of bureaucratic organizations and fostering improved service to the public. In a moment where governments face dynamic administrative and policy challenges, there is great need for leveraging innovative ideas from public sector employees. What is less clear are which factors of employee human capital correlate with feeling encouraged to innovate. We test how three types of human capital influence innovation: organization level, industry specific, and individual specific human capital. We also explore whether there are differences in feeling encouraged to innovate linked to education, training, and demographics such as gender, race, and age. Using survey responses from 2,191 public procurement officers from various levels of government in the United States, we find human capital components including experience, education, training, and age correlate with feeling encouraged to innovate, though not always in expected ways.