The Implementation of Public Works in Italy : Institutional Features and Regional Characteristics

Project duration is an important metric in the assessment of public works procurement and consists of the time taken to complete the three major sub-phases (design, awarding and execution). The overall duration may be influenced by various factors such as project characteristics, local market conditions, and the features of the contracting authority. Italy is characterized by stark territorial differences, potentially encompassing all the above dimensions. This paper uses granular data on Italian procurement to investigate public works’ completion times in the last decade. We unveil performance differentials across macro-areas and analyze possible drivers. We find that i) Southern regions underperform with respect to those in the Centre-North, in particular in phases characterized by a greater intensity of administrative tasks; ii) durations are significantly correlated with the features of the contracting authority, such as workforce composition, workload and experience, and administrative efficiency; iii) these factors, however, explain the North-South divide only partially, suggesting the need to further analyze the internal functioning of contracting authorities