IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/zbw/zewdip/319891.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

The participation of young firms in public procurement

Author

Listed:
  • Krieger, Bastian
  • Füner, Lena
  • Prüfer, Malte

Abstract

Public procurement offers sizable market opportunities for young firms. We investigate the firm- and founder-level characteristics determining young firms' decision to apply for public tenders, as well as the procurers' selection of an awardee. We distinguish between observable and unobservable characteristics as well as price-based tenders (tenders awarded solely on the price criterion) and criteria-based tenders (tenders awarded based on additional criteria next to the price). Using representative survey data for 4,314 young firms in Germany, we estimate a multinomial two-stage selection model. In the first stage, firms decide to "not apply," to "apply for price-based tenders," or to "apply for criteria-based tenders." In the second stage, procurers choose the awardee among the applicants of each tender type. We find the firm and founder determinants largely differ with regard to the first and second stage, as well as price- and criteria-based tenders.

Suggested Citation

  • Krieger, Bastian & Füner, Lena & Prüfer, Malte, 2025. "The participation of young firms in public procurement," ZEW Discussion Papers 25-020, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    • Handle: RePEc:zbw:zewdip:319891
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.econstor.eu/bitstream/10419/319891/1/1929039840.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. 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).
    2. Jon Mikel Zabala-Iturriagagoitia, 2022. "Fostering regional innovation, entrepreneurship and growth through public procurement," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 58(2), pages 1205-1222, February.
    3. Kim Loader, 2016. "Is local authority procurement supporting SMEs? An analysis of practice in English local authorities," Local Government Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 42(3), pages 464-484, May.
    4. Ghisetti, Claudia, 2017. "Demand-pull and environmental innovations: Estimating the effects of innovative public procurement," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 125(C), pages 178-187.
    5. Johan Stake, 2017. "Evaluating quality or lowest price: consequences for small and medium-sized enterprises in public procurement," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 42(5), pages 1143-1169, October.
    6. Carmela Di Mauro & Alessandro Ancarani & Tara Hartley, 2020. "Unravelling SMEs’ participation and success in public procurement," Journal of Public Procurement, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 20(4), pages 377-401, June.
    7. Edler, Jakob & Georghiou, Luke, 2007. "Public procurement and innovation--Resurrecting the demand side," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(7), pages 949-963, September.
    8. Jessica Bai & Shai Bernstein & Abhishek Dev & Josh Lerner, 2021. "The Dance Between Government and Private Investors: Public Entrepreneurial Finance around the Globe," NBER Working Papers 28744, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    9. Chapman, Gary & Hottenrott, Hanna, 2022. "Green start-ups and the role of founder personality," Journal of Business Venturing Insights, Elsevier, vol. 17(C).
    10. Francesco Decarolis & Leonardo M Giuffrida & Elisabetta Iossa & Vincenzo Mollisi & Giancarlo Spagnolo, 2020. "Bureaucratic Competence and Procurement Outcomes [“Politics and Economics in Weak and Strong States]," The Journal of Law, Economics, and Organization, Oxford University Press, vol. 36(3), pages 537-597.
    11. Krieger, Bastian & Zipperer, Vera, 2022. "Does green public procurement trigger environmental innovations?," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 51(6).
    12. Serenella Caravella & Francesco Crespi, 2021. "The role of public procurement as innovation lever: evidence from Italian manufacturing firms," Economics of Innovation and New Technology, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 30(7), pages 663-684, October.
    13. Heike Delfmann & Sierdjan Koster & Philip McCann & Jouke Van Dijk, 2014. "Population Change and New Firm Formation in Urban and Rural Regions," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 48(6), pages 1034-1050, June.
    14. Amit, Raphael & Brander, James & Zott, Christoph, 1998. "Why do venture capital firms exist? theory and canadian evidence," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 13(6), pages 441-466, November.
    15. Cohen, Wesley M & Klepper, Steven, 1996. "A Reprise of Size and R&D," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 106(437), pages 925-951, July.
    16. Obwegeser, Nikolaus & Müller, Sune Dueholm, 2018. "Innovation and public procurement: Terminology, concepts, and applications," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 74, pages 1-17.
    17. Bernard Hoekman & Bedri Kamil Onur Taş, 2022. "Procurement policy and SME participation in public purchasing," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 58(1), pages 383-402, January.
    18. S. Trevis Certo & John R. Busenbark & Hyun‐soo Woo & Matthew Semadeni, 2016. "Sample selection bias and Heckman models in strategic management research," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 37(13), pages 2639-2657, December.
    19. Ye Dai & Gukdo Byun & Fangsheng Ding, 2019. "The Direct and Indirect Impact of Gender Diversity in New Venture Teams on Innovation Performance," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 43(3), pages 505-528, May.
    20. Peter Demerjian & Baruch Lev & Sarah McVay, 2012. "Quantifying Managerial Ability: A New Measure and Validity Tests," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 58(7), pages 1229-1248, July.
    21. Lutz Preuss, 2011. "On the contribution of public procurement to entrepreneurship and small business policy," Entrepreneurship & Regional Development, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 23(9-10), pages 787-814, December.
    22. Zoltan J. Acs & David B. Audretsch, 2008. "Innovation in Large and Small Firms: An Empirical Analysis," Chapters, in: Entrepreneurship, Growth and Public Policy, chapter 1, pages 3-15, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    23. Unger, Jens M. & Rauch, Andreas & Frese, Michael & Rosenbusch, Nina, 2011. "Human capital and entrepreneurial success: A meta-analytical review," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 26(3), pages 341-358, May.
    24. 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).
    25. Peter Nemec, 2024. "Contesting the public works domain: examining the factors affecting presence and success of SMES in public procurement," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 67(5), pages 2135-2173, November.
    26. Dorothea Schäfer & Andreas Stephan & Sören Fuhrmeister, 2024. "The impact of public procurement on financial barriers to general and green innovation," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 62(3), pages 939-959, March.
    27. Eduard Calvo & Ruomeng Cui & Juan Camilo Serpa, 2019. "Oversight and Efficiency in Public Projects: A Regression Discontinuity Analysis," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 65(12), pages 5651-5675, December.
    28. Ashish Arora & Wesley M. Cohen, 2015. "Public support for technical advance: the role of firm size," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 24(4), pages 791-802.
    29. Scott Shane, 2000. "Prior Knowledge and the Discovery of Entrepreneurial Opportunities," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 11(4), pages 448-469, August.
    30. Adrien Deschamps, 2025. "Is Green Public Procurement a deterrent for SMEs? Empirical evidence from France," Post-Print hal-04999776, HAL.
    31. William Greene, 2006. "A General Approach to Incorporating Selectivity in a Model," Working Papers 06-10, New York University, Leonard N. Stern School of Business, Department of Economics.
    32. Jeffrey M Wooldridge, 2010. "Econometric Analysis of Cross Section and Panel Data," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 2, volume 1, number 0262232588, December.
    33. Chiappinelli, Olga & Giuffrida, Leonardo M. & Spagnolo, Giancarlo, 2025. "Public procurement as an innovation policy: Where do we stand?," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 100(C).
    34. Faccio, Mara & Marchica, Maria-Teresa & Mura, Roberto, 2016. "CEO gender, corporate risk-taking, and the efficiency of capital allocation," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 39(C), pages 193-209.
    35. Ouimet, Paige & Zarutskie, Rebecca, 2014. "Who works for startups? The relation between firm age, employee age, and growth," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 112(3), pages 386-407.
    36. Gottschalk, Sandra, 2025. "Wenig dynamisches Gründungsgeschehen in Deutschland – besonders negativer Trend in innovativen Branchen," JUNGE UNTERNEHMEN: Fakten, Analysen, Perspektiven, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research, vol. 25(12), pages 1-10.
    37. John C. Dencker & Marc Gruber, 2015. "The effects of opportunities and founder experience on new firm performance," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 36(7), pages 1035-1052, July.
    38. Dai, Xiaoyong & Li, Yanchao & Chen, Kaihua, 2021. "Direct demand-pull and indirect certification effects of public procurement for innovation," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 101(C).
    39. Ornit Raz & Peter A. Gloor, 2007. "Size Really Matters--New Insights for Start-ups' Survival," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 53(2), pages 169-177, February.
    40. Caroline Flammer, 2018. "Competing for government procurement contracts: The role of corporate social responsibility," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 39(5), pages 1299-1324, May.
    41. Anthony Flynn & Paul Davis, 2017. "Explaining sme participation and success in public procurement using a capability-based model of tendering," Journal of Public Procurement, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 17(3), pages 337-372, April.
    42. Mowery, David & Rosenberg, Nathan, 1993. "The influence of market demand upon innovation: A critical review of some recent empirical studies," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 22(2), pages 107-108, April.
    43. Adams Jr., Richard H. & Cuecuecha, Alfredo, 2010. "Remittances, Household Expenditure and Investment in Guatemala," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 38(11), pages 1626-1641, November.
    44. Bronwyn H. Hall & Nathan Rosenberg (ed.), 2010. "Handbook of the Economics of Innovation," Handbook of the Economics of Innovation, Elsevier, edition 1, volume 1, number 1.
    45. Guerzoni, Marco & Raiteri, Emilio, 2015. "Demand-side vs. supply-side technology policies: Hidden treatment and new empirical evidence on the policy mix," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 44(3), pages 726-747.
    46. Åstebro, Thomas & Bazzazian, Navid & Braguinsky, Serguey, 2012. "Startups by recent university graduates and their faculty: Implications for university entrepreneurship policy," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 41(4), pages 663-677.
    47. Daron Acemoglu & Simon Johnson, 2005. "Unbundling Institutions," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 113(5), pages 949-995, October.
    48. Edquist, Charles & Zabala-Iturriagagoitia, Jon Mikel, 2020. "Functional procurement for innovation, welfare and the environment," Papers in Innovation Studies 2020/1, Lund University, CIRCLE - Centre for Innovation Research, revised 19 Jul 2020.
    49. Coad, Alex & Segarra, Agustí & Teruel, Mercedes, 2016. "Innovation and firm growth: Does firm age play a role?," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 45(2), pages 387-400.
    50. John Haltiwanger, 2022. "Entrepreneurship in the twenty-first century," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 58(1), pages 27-40, January.
    51. Knut Blind & Jakob Pohlisch & Anne Rainville, 2020. "Innovation and standardization as drivers of companies’ success in public procurement: an empirical analysis," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 45(3), pages 664-693, June.
    52. Agarwal, Rajshree & Shah, Sonali K., 2014. "Knowledge sources of entrepreneurship: Firm formation by academic, user and employee innovators," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 43(7), pages 1109-1133.
    53. Sofia Fonseca & Maria João Guedes & Vítor Conceição Gonçalves, 2022. "Profitability and size of newly established firms," International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, Springer, vol. 18(2), pages 957-974, June.
    54. Murmann, Martin & Salmivaara, Virva & Kibler, Ewald, 2023. "How does late-career entrepreneurship relate to innovation?," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 52(6).
    55. Faems, Dries & Subramanian, Annapoornima M., 2013. "R&D manpower and technological performance: The impact of demographic and task-related diversity," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 42(9), pages 1624-1633.
    56. David Audretsch & Iñaki Peña-Legazkue, 2012. "Entrepreneurial activity and regional competitiveness: an introduction to the special issue," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 39(3), pages 531-537, October.
    57. García-Quevedo, José & Pellegrino, Gabriele & Vivarelli, Marco, 2014. "R&D drivers and age: Are young firms different?," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 43(9), pages 1544-1556.
    58. Constance E. Helfat & Margaret A. Peteraf, 2003. "The dynamic resource‐based view: capability lifecycles," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 24(10), pages 997-1010, October.
    59. Cédric Schneider & Reinhilde Veugelers, 2010. "On young highly innovative companies: why they matter and how (not) to policy support them," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 19(4), pages 969-1007, August.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Krieger, Bastian & Füner, Lena & Prüfer, Malte, 2024. "Which start-ups win public procurement tenders?," ZEW Discussion Papers 24-072, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    2. Krieger, Bastian & Zipperer, Vera, 2022. "Does green public procurement trigger environmental innovations?," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 51(6).
    3. Castelnovo, Paolo & Clò, Stefano & Florio, Massimo, 2023. "A quasi-experimental design to assess the innovative impact of public procurement: An application to the Italian space industry," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 121(C).
    4. Bastian Krieger & Malte Prüfer & Linus Strecke, 2024. "Public procurement can hinder innovation," Working Papers of Department of Management, Strategy and Innovation, Leuven 739379, KU Leuven, Faculty of Economics and Business (FEB), Department of Management, Strategy and Innovation, Leuven.
    5. Chiappinelli, Olga & Giuffrida, Leonardo M. & Spagnolo, Giancarlo, 2023. "Public procurement as an innovation policy: Where do we stand?," ZEW Discussion Papers 23-002, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    6. Edler, Jakob, 2023. "Demand, public procurement and transformation," Discussion Papers "Innovation Systems and Policy Analysis" 79, Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research (ISI).
    7. Paolo Castelnovo & Gelsomina Catalano & Francesco Giffoni & Matteo Landoni, 2024. "The outcomes of public procurements: an empirical analysis of the Italian space industry," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 49(1), pages 367-399, February.
    8. Krieger, Bastian & Rainville, Anne Marie, 2025. "The effects of public procurement requirements and voluntary standards on environmental product innovation," ZEW Discussion Papers 25-026, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    9. Dirk Czarnitzki & Malte Prüfer, 2024. "The Interplay between Public Procurement of Innovation and R&D Grants: Empirical Evidence from Belgium," Working Papers of ECOOM - Centre for Research and Development Monitoring 746875, KU Leuven, Faculty of Economics and Business (FEB), ECOOM - Centre for Research and Development Monitoring.
    10. Zheng, Suyi & Wen, Jiandong, 2024. "Green public procurement and corporate environmental performance: An empirical analysis based on data from green procurement contracts," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 96(PA).
    11. Gabriele Pellegrino, 2015. "Barriers to innovation: can firm age help lower them?," Working Papers 2015/3, Institut d'Economia de Barcelona (IEB).
    12. Dorothea Schäfer & Andreas Stephan & Sören Fuhrmeister, 2024. "The impact of public procurement on financial barriers to general and green innovation," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 62(3), pages 939-959, March.
    13. Füner, Lena & Berger, Marius & Bersch, Johannes & Hottenrott, Hanna, 2023. "Local networks and new business formation," ZEW Discussion Papers 23-067, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    14. Pietro Santoleri, 2020. "Innovation and job creation in (high-growth) new firms," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 29(3), pages 731-756.
    15. Serenella Caravella & Francesco Crespi, 2021. "The role of public procurement as innovation lever: evidence from Italian manufacturing firms," Economics of Innovation and New Technology, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 30(7), pages 663-684, October.
    16. Dai, Xiaoyong & Li, Yanchao & Chen, Kaihua, 2021. "Direct demand-pull and indirect certification effects of public procurement for innovation," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 101(C).
    17. Dorothea Schäfer & Andreas Stephan & Sören Fuhrmeister, 2022. "The Impact of Public Procurement on Financial Barriers to Green Innovation: Evidence from European Community Innovation Survey," Discussion Papers of DIW Berlin 2014, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research.
    18. Ethan Gifford & Guido Buenstorf & Daniel Ljungberg & Maureen McKelvey & Olof Zaring, 2021. "Variety in founder experience and the performance of knowledge-intensive innovative firms," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 31(2), pages 677-713, April.
    19. Coad, Alex & Segarra, Agustí & Teruel, Mercedes, 2016. "Innovation and firm growth: Does firm age play a role?," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 45(2), pages 387-400.
    20. Graf, Holger & Kalthaus, Martin, 2018. "International research networks: Determinants of country embeddedness," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 47(7), pages 1198-1214.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;

    JEL classification:

    • H57 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies - - - Procurement
    • L26 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Entrepreneurship
    • O38 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Government Policy

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:zbw:zewdip:319891. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/zemande.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.