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Political Contributions and Public Procurement: Evidence from Lithuania

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  • Audinga Beltrunaite

Abstract

This paper studies whether firms trade political contributions for public procurement contracts. Combining data on Lithuanian government tenders, corporate donors and firm characteristics, I examine how a ban on corporate contributions affects the awarding of procurement contracts to companies that donated in the past. Consistent with political favoritism, donors' probability of winning falls by five percentage points as compared to that of non-donor firms after the ban. Evidence on bidding and victory margins suggests that corporate donors might receive information on competing bids. I assess that tax payers save almost one percent of GDP thanks to the reform.

Suggested Citation

  • Audinga Beltrunaite, 2017. "Political Contributions and Public Procurement: Evidence from Lithuania," Working Papers 100, "Carlo F. Dondena" Centre for Research on Social Dynamics (DONDENA), Università Commerciale Luigi Bocconi.
  • Handle: RePEc:don:donwpa:100
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    Cited by:

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    2. Joonkyu Choi & Veronika Penciakova & Felipe Saffie, 2021. "Political Connections, Allocation of Stimulus Spending, and the Jobs Multiplier," FRB Atlanta Working Paper 2021-13, Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta.
    3. Barraza, Santiago & Rossi, Martín A & Ruzzier, Christian A, 2022. "Sleeping with the enemy: The perils of having the government on(the)board," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 50(3), pages 641-651.
    4. Stéphane Benveniste & Renaud Coulomb & Marc Sangnier, 2022. "The (Market) Value of State Honors," AMSE Working Papers 2201, Aix-Marseille School of Economics, France.
    5. Colin P. Green & Swarnodeep Homroy, 2022. "Incorporated in Westminster: Channels and Returns to Political Connection in the United Kingdom," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 89(354), pages 377-408, April.
    6. Miroslav Palanský, 2021. "The value of political connections in the post-transition period: evidence from Czechia," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 188(1), pages 121-154, July.
    7. Srhoj, Stjepan & Dragojević, Melko, 2021. "Public procurement and supplier job creation: Insights from auctions," MPRA Paper 110018, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    8. Lei, Yu-Hsiang, 2021. "Quid pro quo? Government-firm relationships in China," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 199(C).
    9. Gallego, Jorge & Prem, Mounu & Vargas, Juan F., 2020. "Corruption in the Times of Pandemia," Working papers 43, Red Investigadores de Economía.
    10. Audinga Baltrunaite & Cristina Giorgiantonio & Sauro Mocetti & Tommaso Orlando, 2021. "Discretion and Supplier Selection in Public Procurement [Formal and Real Authority in Organizations]," The Journal of Law, Economics, and Organization, Oxford University Press, vol. 37(1), pages 134-166.
    11. Kang, Sungwon & Kim, Daehwan & Kim, Geonhyeong, 2023. "Corporate entertainment expenses and corruption in public procurement," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).
    12. Titl, Vitezslav & De Witte, Kristof & Geys, Benny, 2021. "Political donations, public procurement and government efficiency," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 148(C).
    13. Kris De Jaegher & Michal Soltes & Vitezslav Titl, 2023. "Easing Renegotiation Rules in Public Procurement: Evidence from a Policy Reform," CERGE-EI Working Papers wp757, The Center for Economic Research and Graduate Education - Economics Institute, Prague.
    14. Palguta, Ján, 2019. "Political representation and public contracting: Evidence from municipal legislatures," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 118(C), pages 411-431.
    15. Barbakadze, I., 2023. "With a Little Help from My Friend: Political Connections and Allocation of COVID-19 Aid," Cambridge Working Papers in Economics 2355, Faculty of Economics, University of Cambridge.
    16. Jääskeläinen, Jan & Tukiainen, Janne, 2019. "Anatomy of public procurement," Working Papers 118, VATT Institute for Economic Research.
    17. Carla Carlucci & Cristina Giorgiantonio & Tommaso Orlando, 2019. "Public works in Italy: time to completion and its determinants," Questioni di Economia e Finanza (Occasional Papers) 538, Bank of Italy, Economic Research and International Relations Area.
    18. Grdović Gnip, Ana, 2022. "All you need is political love? Assessing the effects of partisan favouritism in Croatia's public procurement," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 75(C).
    19. Titl, Vitezslav & Geys, Benny, 2019. "Political donations and the allocation of public procurement contracts," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 111(C), pages 443-458.
    20. Balán, Pablo & Dodyk, Juan & Puente, Ignacio, 2023. "Kin in the game: How family ties help firms overcome campaign finance regulation," Working Papers 330, The University of Chicago Booth School of Business, George J. Stigler Center for the Study of the Economy and the State.
    21. Park, SeHyun, 2023. "Profitability of politically corrupt firms: Evidence from Romania," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 54(C).
    22. Ravi Radhakrishnan, 2022. "Public expenditure allocation, lobbying, and growth," Journal of Public Economic Theory, Association for Public Economic Theory, vol. 24(4), pages 756-780, August.

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    Keywords

    political contributions; public procurement; contributing firms; rent seeking;
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