Economic Issues in Public Procurement

Effective procurement strategies, which control costs and streamline processes, are vital to all contracting authorities. Pursuing the best value-for-money in public procurement, while keeping the process management costs down, requires several crucial decisions including deciding on: the optimal mixture of centralised and decentralised procurement; the best type of contract and format for tendering; and the use of e-auctions or the splitting of contracts into lots. A number of closely interlinked economic factors come in to play in these decisions. SIGMA Brief 2 aims to provide practical guidance regarding these decisions.