Het Utrecht University Centre for Public Procurement (UUCePP) gaat de komende jaren onderzoek doen naar de CO2-Prestatieladder als aanbestedingsinstrument, en in bredere zin naar de toepassing van certificaten bij aanbestedingen. Er wordt zowel vanuit economische als juridische invalshoek onderzoek gedaan naar effecten, mogelijkheden en onmogelijkheden.

De CO2-Prestatieladder is een CO2-managementsysteem dat bestaat uit verschillende niveaus, waarbij de hogere niveaus het bedrijf overstijgen en de uitstoot in de keten en sector betreffen. Al naar gelang hun positie op de ladder krijgen gecertificeerde bedrijven een gunningvoordeel in het aanbestedingsproces, in de vorm van een korting op hun inschrijfprijs. De aanbestedende dienst of opdrachtgever bepaalt dit gunningvoordeel.

Het onderzoek van UUCePP is onderdeel van een groot project dat wordt gecoördineerd door de Stichting Klimaatvriendelijk Aanbesteden & Ondernemen (SKAO). SKAO gaat, samen met het International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) en ICLEI Europe, Europese landen ondersteunen bij de implementatie van de CO2-Prestatieladder in Europa, met als doel de CO2-reductie te versnellen door duurzame inkoop te stimuleren. 

• Ruben Nicolas
• prof. dr. mr. Willem Janssen
• Jihwan Ryu
• prof. dr. ir. Fredo Schotanus

Following World War II, globalisation and market liberalisation triggered a period of unprecedented growth. Recently, these trends appear to reverse, whereby globalisation and corporations started to pose challenges for liberal democracy, social cohesion and environmental sustainability.

DemoTrans is an impact-driven Horizon Europe research project that will provide theoretically and empirically robust recommendations on how to reinvigorate democratic governance by improving the accountability, transparency, effectiveness and trustworthiness of rule-of-law based institutions and policies. Moreover, it will provide robust recommendations on strengthening democratic governance through the expansion of active and inclusive citizenship empowered by the safeguarding of fundamental rights, thus showing pathways to a secure, open and democratic European society.

• Pelle Berkhout MA
• Marly Tatiana Celis Galvez MSc
• Emilie Wojcieszynski
• prof. dr. ir. Fredo Schotanus
• dr. Anne Rainville

An effective procurement system plays a crucial role in avoiding mismanagement and
waste of public funds (OECD, 2016). The average public procurement market in the
OECD countries is worth about 29% of general government expenditure (12% of GDP).
Due to the importance of procurement markets and recent availability of administrative
data, a substantial empirical economic literature has evolved. It largely suggests that the outcomes of public procurement contracts and their efficiency are to a significant extent influenced by legal, political, and institutional aspects.

The proposed research project aims to evaluate the role of institutional factors and
information in public procurement markets. We identify three understudied aspects of
public procurement: (i) single-bidding in procurement contracts, (ii) the availability of
information about public procurement contracts to firms, and (iii) public online oversight
and monitoring. For each aspect, we formulate a research objective that addresses the effect on procurement outcomes (such as prices, quality, and delays). Two of these objectives will be conducted on high-quality administrative datasets from the Czech Republic and Ukraine and one objective will be addressed by a field experiment. We aim to contribute to the academic literature by identifying causes of inefficiencies in the procurement markets and quantifying their extent. Understanding the causes of inefficiency is crucial for better informed policy decisions. Our findings and the policy recommendations derived from them should, if implemented, result in significant savings and/or a more efficient public sector.

• Bruno Baranek; Leon Musolff