In times of tight budgets, efficiency of Public Procurement – accounting for the over 15% of GDP in OECD countries – has become an even more important priority. In addition, the policy debate is steering towards an increased use of Public Procurement as an active driver for sustainable growth, in terms of stimulating innovation, facilitating SMEs participation, enhancing environment protection, etc. (see e.g. the recent EU Green Paper and the new Directives on Public Procurement and Concession). The cost of “distorting” Public Procurement to pursue these important long term objectives is still unclear, though recent research is offering some numbers. The use of Public Procurement as a policy tool is also limited by its high procedural rigidity aimed at maintaining accountability given poor ex-post performance measures, as well as by conflicts with pre-existing policy objectives like common market integration in the EU.
This workshop aims at both presenting recent research on these relevant topics and discussing open methodological issues. In particular, we will examine - at the theoretical and experimental/empirical level – research contributions on:

• Awarding Procedures (i.e. auction formats) and Efficiency, SMEs participation, Subcontracting in Public Procurement;
• Performance (i.e. quality), Incentives, Enforcement of Rules, Discretion, Reputation in Public Procurement.