Tabish, S Z S and Jha, K N (2011) Analyses and evaluation of irregularities in public procurement in India. Construction Management and Economics, 29(3), pp. 261-274. ISSN 1466433X
Abstract
Public procurement is prone to corruption, which in the global construction market alone accounts for an estimated US$340 billion per year. There is a growing need for procurement systems to be able to fight corruption and improve the effectiveness, efficiency, fairness and transparency of public procurement. A comprehensive list of irregularities in public procurement is derived from irregularities observed during technical vigilance inspections by experts and reported cases. The research involved a questionnaire survey, Delphi method and an empirical investigation of the dynamics of irregular practices in public procurement. The survey revealed the top 15 most frequent irregularities. The irregularities have been classified under five categories: transparency, professional standards, fairness, contract monitoring and regulation and procedural irregularities. The ranking of these categories reveals that transparency is the key factor requiring prime attention. The other categories are of nearly equal importance. A framework for good procurement is developed and actions proposed under five categories to curb corruption in public procurement. The framework and the irregularities can be related systematically to various aspects of combating corruption, and hence should fulfil the urgent need of policy- makers, professional staff, regulators and consumers.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | corruption; India; irregularities; public sector procurement |
| Index terms: | effectiveness, investigation, procurement system, global construction, fairness, monitoring, dynamics, transparency, India, Delphi method, efficiency, regulator, inspection, regulation, corruption, questionnaire, public sector procurement, survey |
| Subjects: | contractual arrangements, control systems, data collection methods, strategic management, quality assurance, systems engineering, political science, professional ethics, leadership, sociology, professional development, Geography, performance management |
| Topics: | Engineering Principles, Information Management, Geographical Context, Research Practice, Governance, Procurement, Stakeholder Management, International Construction, Quality Management, Legal Issues, Organizational Design, Site Management |
| Descriptive scope: | 4 PCEA |
N.B. Descriptive scope is a count of how many of the five facets of empirical research are indicated by the words used in title, abstract and keywords. It is not intended as a judgement on the research; merely a count of the kind of word we would expect to indicate Phenomenon, Concepts, Theoretical framing, Empirical techniques, Analytical techniques. If all five are present, then a code of “5 PCTEA” will indicate this. If you feel the coding for this record is questionable, we welcome discussion around the terms we matched or the way we categorized them. The facet you would expect may not be coded, or a facet may be coded inappropriately. This can also bear on a larger question, of which facets should be treated as defining in construction management research. Please get in touch, and we will look at it. More details here