Over the next few years, the Utrecht University Centre for Public Procurement (UUCePP) will conduct research into the CO2 Performance Ladder as a procurement instrument, and more broadly into the application of certificates in procurement. Effects, possibilities and impossibilities will be investigated from both economic and legal perspectives.
The CO2 Performance Ladder is a CO2 management system consisting of different levels, with the higher levels going beyond the company and covering emissions in the wider business chain and sector. According to their position on the ladder, certified companies receive an award advantage in the tendering process, in the form of a discount on their tender price. The contracting authority or client determines the amount of the advantage.
UUCePP's study is part of a major project coordinated by the Foundation for Climate-Friendly Procurement & Business (SKAO). SKAO, together with the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) and ICLEI Europe, will support European countries in implementing the CO2 Performance Ladder in Europe, with the aim of accelerating CO2 reduction by promoting sustainable procurement.
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.
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.
