In public procurement a temporal separation of award and actual contracting can frequently be observed. In this paper we give an explanation for this institutional setting. For incomplete procurement contracts we show that such a separation may increase efficiency. We show that efficiency can be increased by post-award, pre-contract negotiations between the award-winning seller and one of the `losing' sellers. Surprisingly, the efficiency gains can be higher if the award is given to a seller with a lower reputation for quality instead of to a seller with higher reputation. Under certain conditions post-award, pre-contract rent-seeking activities also increase efficiency. This is always the case if the procurement agency is corrupt, but may also occur in the case of lobbying.
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Paper provided by University of Bonn, Germany in its series Bonn Econ Discussion Papers with number
bgse5_2000.
Length: Date of creation: Date of revision: Handle: RePEc:bon:bonedp:bgse5_2000
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Find related papers by JEL classification: D23 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Organizational Behavior; Transaction Costs; Property Rights H57 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies - - - Procurement L51 - Industrial Organization - - Regulation and Industrial Policy - - - Economics of Regulation
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