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Centralized vs. Decentralized procurement: does Dispersed Information Call for Decentralized Decision-Making?

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  • Vagstad, S.

Abstract

Should the government procure equipment for its agencies or let them run their own procurment auctions? Suppose the agency has private information about product quality, but is inclined to favour local suppliers. Decentralization saves bureaucracy and "agency costs", but leads to biased decisions. I show that the costs associated with discrimination may increase when the quality differences increase. Moreover, this effect may be dominant, implying that increased importance of local informantion may be an argument for centralization.

Suggested Citation

  • Vagstad, S., 2000. "Centralized vs. Decentralized procurement: does Dispersed Information Call for Decentralized Decision-Making?," Norway; Department of Economics, University of Bergen 211, Department of Economics, University of Bergen.
    • Handle: RePEc:fth:bereco:211
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    Cited by:

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    2. Becerra, Ligia Melo, 2004. "Intergovernmental fiscal relations : the Colombian case," Economics PhD Theses 0304, Department of Economics, University of Sussex Business School.
    3. Kvartiuk, Vasyl & Herzfeld, Thomas & Bukin, Eduard, 2022. "Decentralized public farmland conveyance: Rental rights auctioning in Ukraine," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 114(C).
    4. Ligia Melo Becerra, 2005. "Impacto De La Descentralización Fiscal Sobre La Educación Pública Colombiana," Borradores de Economia 2802, Banco de la Republica.
    5. Umar Altahtooh & Thamir Alaskar, 2018. "Understanding Relationship between Milestone and Decision-Making in Project Management: A Qualitative Study among Project Managers in Saudi Arabia," International Journal of Business and Management, Canadian Center of Science and Education, vol. 13(8), pages 184-184, June.
    6. Munson, C.L. & Hu, J., 2010. "Incorporating quantity discounts and their inventory impacts into the centralized purchasing decision," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 201(2), pages 581-592, March.
    7. Justin M. Stritch & Stuart Bretschneider & Nicole Darnall & Lily Hsueh & Yifan Chen, 2020. "Sustainability Policy Objectives, Centralized Decision Making, and Efficiency in Public Procurement Processes in U.S. Local Governments," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(17), pages 1-17, August.
    8. Chiappinelli, Olga, 2020. "Decentralization and Public Procurement Performance: New Evidence from Italy," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 58(2), pages 856-880.
    9. Li, Jin & Shi, Victor, 2019. "The benefit of horizontal decentralization in durable good procurement," Omega, Elsevier, vol. 82(C), pages 13-23.
    10. Simona Baldi & Davide Vannoni, 2017. "The impact of centralization on pharmaceutical procurement prices: the role of institutional quality and corruption," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 51(3), pages 426-438, March.
    11. Anil Arya & Hans Frimor & Brian Mittendorf, 2015. "Decentralized Procurement in Light of Strategic Inventories," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 61(3), pages 578-585, March.
    12. Simona Baldi & Davide Vannoni, 2014. "The Impact of Centralization, Corruption and Institutional Quality on Procurement Prices: An Application to Pharmaceutical Purchasing in Italy," Carlo Alberto Notebooks 379, Collegio Carlo Alberto.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    INCENTIVE CONTRACTS ; AUCTIONS ; DISCRIMINATION ; PROCURMENT ; QUALITY;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D44 - Microeconomics - - Market Structure, Pricing, and Design - - - Auctions
    • D82 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Asymmetric and Private Information; Mechanism Design
    • L51 - Industrial Organization - - Regulation and Industrial Policy - - - Economics of Regulation
    • R38 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Real Estate Markets, Spatial Production Analysis, and Firm Location - - - Government Policy

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