Steps for Integrity in Public Contracts

Abstract

Maintaining integrity throughout the public procurement cycle is universally recognized as a necessary condition to achieve public objectives, and thus to make proper use of precious taxpayer resources. The economic costs of corrupt procurement exert a profoundly negative impact, not only on the economy of states but also on citizens’ rights. The corruption risks exist throughout the procurement cycle. Although the tendering stage in public procurement is particularly highly regulated, corruption risks can also arise before the tender process even begins (in the pre-tender or planning stage), and once the contract has been awarded (in the post-tender stage).

Legislation alone is not sufficient to prevent corruption in public procurement. Instead, as this article emphasizes, the pursuit of efficiency and integrity in public contracts must be rooted in the professionalism of the procurement workforce, and by ethical regulations (e.g., codes of conduct, integrity pacts and protocols of legality). Taken together, all these underscore transparency and competition (facilitated by technology and the cooperation among public entities) may reduce corruption in public contracts. Transparency opens the procurement process to more ,stakeholders, which ultimately makes the procurement system both stronger and sounder. The monitoring of the entire procurement cycle by the unsuccessful tenderers and civil society cumulatively help to assure correct performance, and may well encourage proper conduct by officials and contractors during the award and execution of a contract.

It is therefore vital that anti-corruption initiatives and procurement reforms work more closely together, so as to avoid the violations of fundamental rights and a loss in the fiduciary relationship between citizens and public institutions. Promoting professionalism and stressing the ethical requirements binding procurement officials inside complex organizations, such as central purchasing bodies, will be a useful means of pursuing the financial and economic benefits of transparent, efficient and competitive procurement. More focus should be placed on supporting accountability and integrity, which mark the ideals of anti-corruption in the fabric of the procurement community.

Keywords: Public contracts, Integrity, Efficiency, Transparency, Corruption

JEL Classification: H57, L33, K23, K42