Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/209576 
Year of Publication: 
2019
Series/Report no.: 
ZEW Discussion Papers No. 19-057
Publisher: 
ZEW - Leibniz-Zentrum für Europäische Wirtschaftsforschung, Mannheim
Abstract: 
To what extent does a more competent public bureaucracy contribute to better economic outcomes? We address this question in the context of the US federal procurement of services and works, by combining contract-level data on procurement performance and bureau-level data on competence and workforce characteristics. We use the death occurrences of specific types of employees as instruments and find that an increase in bureau competence causes a significant and economically important reduction in: i) time delays, ii) cost overruns, and iii) number of renegotiations. Cooperation within the office appears to be a key driver of the findings.
Subjects: 
buyer quality
competence
procurement
public management
state capacity
JEL: 
D44
H11
H57
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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