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Public procurement as policy instrument for innovation

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  • Czarnitzki, Dirk
  • Hünermund, Paul
  • Moshgbar, Nima

Abstract

The use of public procurement to promote private innovation activities has attracted increasing attention recently. Germany implemented a legal change in its procurement framework in 2009, which allowed government agencies to specify innovative aspects of procured products as selection criteria in tender calls. We analyze a representative sample of German firms to investigate whether this reform stimulated innovation in the business sector. Across a wide set of specifications - OLS, nearest-neighbor matching, IV regressions and difference-in-differences - we find a robust and significant effect of innovationdirected public procurement on turnover from new products and services. However, our results show that the effect is largely attributable to innovations of more incremental nature rather than market novelties.

Suggested Citation

  • Czarnitzki, Dirk & Hünermund, Paul & Moshgbar, Nima, 2018. "Public procurement as policy instrument for innovation," ZEW Discussion Papers 18-001, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    • Handle: RePEc:zbw:zewdip:18001
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    Cited by:

    1. Stojčić, Nebojša & Srhoj, Stjepan & Coad, Alex, 2020. "Innovation procurement as capability-building: Evaluating innovation policies in eight Central and Eastern European countries," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 121(C).
    2. Fadic, Milenko, 2018. "Government Procurement and the Growth of Small Firms," MPRA Paper 87015, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    3. Edquist, Charles & Zabala-Iturriagagoitia, Jon Mikel, 2020. "Functional procurement for innovation, welfare and the environment," Papers in Innovation Studies 2020/1, Lund University, CIRCLE - Center for Innovation Research, revised 19 Jul 2020.
    4. Francesco Crespi & Serenella Caravella, 2020. "The Role Of Public Procurement As Innovation Lever: Evidence From Italian Manufacturing Firms," Departmental Working Papers of Economics - University 'Roma Tre' 0252, Department of Economics - University Roma Tre.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Public Procurement of Innovation; Public Procurement with Contracted Innovation; Technical Change; Research and Development; Econometric Policy Evaluation;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H57 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies - - - Procurement
    • O38 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Government Policy

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