I examine a manipulation scheme that public authorities can use to exercise more discretion in public procurement. I propose that regression discontinuity manipulation tests can be implemented to identify manipulative authorities. I investigate the European Union public procurement data set. I...

This paper empirically investigates the impact of public procurement regulation quality on competition and cost-effectiveness. I employ the World Bank's Benchmarking Public Procurement quality scores. Using extensive data about public procurement in the European Economic Area, Switzerland, and...

This study empirically investigates the impact of public procurement regulation quality on the competition for tenders and the cost-effectiveness of awarded contracts, by employing the World Bank's Benchmarking Public Procurement and EuroPAM Public Procurement quality scores. Using extensive...

This paper investigates the relationship between the quality of regulatory policies governing public procurement and participation in public tenders by small and medium enterprises (SMEs). Using a large dataset on European procurement contracts, we find that countries with better quality...