Can Electronic Procurement Improve Infrastructure Provision? Evidence from Public Works in India and Indonesia
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Olken_Can electronic.pdf
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Author(s)
Lewis-Faupel, Sean
Neggers, Yusuf
Pande, Rohini
Olken, Benjamin
Date Issued
August 2016
Journal
American Economic Journal: Economic Policy
Publisher
American Economic Association
Citation
Lewis-Faupel, Sean, Yusuf Neggers, Benjamin A. Olken, and Rohini Pande. “Can Electronic Procurement Improve Infrastructure Provision? Evidence from Public Works in India and Indonesia.” American Economic Journal: Economic Policy 8, no. 3 (August 2016): 258–283. © 2017 American Economic Association
Version
Final published version
Abstract
This paper examines whether electronic procurement (e-procurement), which increases access to information and reduces personal interactions with potentially corrupt officials, improves procurement outcomes. We develop unique datasets from India and Indonesia and use variation in adoption of e-procurement within both countries. We find no evidence of reduced prices but do find that e-procurement leads to quality improvements. In India, where we observe quality directly, e-procurement improves road quality, and in Indonesia, e-procurement reduces delays. Regions with e-procurement are more likely to have winners come from outside the region. On net, the results suggest that e-procurement facilitates entry from higher quality contractors.
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Economics
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Article is made available in accordance with the publisher's policy and may be subject to US copyright law. Please refer to the publisher's site for terms of use.
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DOI of Published Version
https://doi.org/10.1257/pol.20140258
