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Design of public procurement auctions: Evidence from cleaning contracts

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  • Ari Hyytinen
  • Sofia Lundberg
  • Otto Toivanen

Abstract

We analyze a regime change from beauty contests to first-price sealed-bid and scoring auctions, using Swedish data on public procurement of cleaning services. In beauty contests, the lowest bid often lost, leaving substantial money on the table. The procurement costs were similar before and after the regime change: (i) Entry strongly decreases the procurement cost but did not change. Entry would have decreased had the municipalities not adjusted the objects of auctions. (ii) Municipalities favored in-house suppliers in the old regime, leading to more aggressive bidding by others. With favoritism reduced, these changes balanced each other out.

Suggested Citation

  • Ari Hyytinen & Sofia Lundberg & Otto Toivanen, 2018. "Design of public procurement auctions: Evidence from cleaning contracts," Working Papers of Department of Economics, Leuven 625202, KU Leuven, Faculty of Economics and Business (FEB), Department of Economics, Leuven.
    • Handle: RePEc:ete:ceswps:625202
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    Cited by:

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    2. Yuanzhu Lu & Xundong Yin & Hu Zhang, 2023. "Does surround‐bidding corruption hurt procurers?," Manchester School, University of Manchester, vol. 91(4), pages 320-335, July.
    3. Camboni Riccardo & Valbonesi Paola, 2021. "Incumbent and Entrant Bidding in Scoring Rule Auctions: A Study on Italian Canteen Services," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 21(1), pages 1-43, January.
    4. Dirk Czarnitzki & Paul Hünermund & Nima Moshgbar, 2018. "Public procurement as policy instrument for innovation," Working Papers of Department of Economics, Leuven 606259, KU Leuven, Faculty of Economics and Business (FEB), Department of Economics, Leuven.
    5. Michael Klien & Michael Böheim & Matthias Firgo & Andreas Reinstaller & Peter Reschenhofer & Yvonne Wolfmayr, 2021. "Stärkung der Unabhängigkeit des Wirtschaftsstandortes Österreich bei kritischen Produkten," WIFO Studies, WIFO, number 67234.
    6. Matteucci, Nicola, 2021. "Procuring NGA infrastructure: The performance of EMAT auctions in Italy," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 45(1).
    7. Nogues Comas,Antoni Albert & Mendes Dos Santos,Nuno Filipe, 2021. "Measuring Public Procurement Rules and Practices : Benchmarking a Recurrent Infrastructure Contract," Policy Research Working Paper Series 9651, The World Bank.
    8. Strömbäck, Elon, 2015. "Policy by Public Procurement: Opportunities and Pitfalls," Umeå Economic Studies 915, Umeå University, Department of Economics.
    9. Tukiainen, Janne & Blesse, Sebastian & Bohne, Albrecht & Giuffrida, Leonardo M. & Jääskeläinen, Jan & Luukinen, Ari & Sieppi, Antti, 2021. "What are the priorities of bureaucrats? Evidence from conjoint experiments with procurement officials," ZEW Discussion Papers 21-033, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    10. Leonardo M. Giuffrida & Gabriele Rovigatti, 2022. "Supplier selection and contract enforcement: Evidence from performance bonding," Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(4), pages 980-1019, November.
    11. Czarnitzki, Dirk & Hünermund, Paul & Moshgbar, Nima, 2020. "Public Procurement of Innovation: Evidence from a German Legislative Reform," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 71(C).
    12. Visa Pitkänen, 2022. "Competition and efficiency in repeated procurements: Lessons from the Finnish rehabilitation markets," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 31(5), pages 820-835, May.
    13. Jääskeläinen, Jan & Tukiainen, Janne, 2019. "Anatomy of public procurement," Working Papers 118, VATT Institute for Economic Research.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • H57 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies - - - Procurement
    • D44 - Microeconomics - - Market Structure, Pricing, and Design - - - Auctions
    • P16 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Capitalist Economies - - - Capitalist Institutions; Welfare State

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