Other Procurement Study

2021-06, World Bank

Procurement of commonly used items is a challenge for government agencies. If the items are repeatedly purchased in one-off fashion, so that the total volume is significant, there may be potential problems like loss of economy of scale, loss of efficiency, lower competition, and no long-term partnership with suppliers. Framework agreements (FAs) have emerged as a potential solution for the issues. Many countries (particularly in Americas and Europe) have used FAs successfully, though the use of FAs by countries outside these regions is still very low. Hence there is tremendous potential for scaling-up the use of FAs in developing countries. This study uses public procurement data from Brazil and Colombia, two major users of FAs. The subsequent chapters will describe the data used for the analysis, the methodology, and the findings. The country contexts, designs of FAs, available data and research questions vary across Brazil and Colombia, and therefore the empirical findings are not comparable between these two countries. For each country case, the analysis provides insights on the benefits and costs of using FAs and useful lessons that can be informative for other countries that are considering adopting or strengthening the use of FAs with similar design. Chapter one gives introduction. Chapters two and three cover data analytics from Brazil and Colombia respectively. Additionally, following annexures are part of this report: annexure-A: a brief introduction to regression analysis; annexure-B: supporting data and information - Brazil; and annexure-C: supporting data and information - Colombia.

2009-11-01, World Bank

Over the past decade, the overly centralized governance structures commonly found across South Asia have begun to change, with program and fiscal responsibility being devolved to local level government authorities and community-based organizations. This has led to greater participation of ordinary citizens in governance and public decision-making. The move to localize decision-making creates enormous opportunities for increasing the effectiveness of public spending since it creates the potential for establishing direct accountability of governance mechanisms to citizens. It also raises a number of significant challenges in ensuring that public funds are spent effectively at the local level, and provokes important new questions regarding the manner by which governments can maintain oversight over the quality of assets. This paper provides an overview of the activities supported under the project, with the aim of contributing to a broader perspective on improving governance and service delivery at the local level. The paper is divided into three parts. In part one the authors explore the challenges of spending money effectively at the local level, with a special focus on the governance challenges that exist in public procurement. In part two, the authors explore different approaches to addressing those challenges by discussing innovative work that has taken place with the support of the Project in the areas of regulation, contracting, transparency, and accountability. In part three, the authors analyze some broader themes and key questions that remain to be addressed while developing a strategic research and operational agenda around local level procurement.