The second installment of our Policy Brief Series

The SAPIENS Network is excited to present the second installment of our Policy Brief Series, continuing to showcase our early-stage researchers’ ongoing work.

Our second policy brief is by Enrique Carreras, who is in charge of the project “Measuring the Economic Impact of Sustainable Award Criteria in Public Procurement”.

While the first policy brief emphasized the importance of gender equality in public procurement, Carreras’ brief expands the conversation to include broader social considerations.

He explores the potential of public procurement policies in driving positive social change and examines the effectiveness and efficiency of such policies in promoting social inclusion.

Key Insights

• Public procurement policies can be effectively leveraged with the objective of social inclusion
• Recent evidence shows that these policies can have limited direct extra-costs associated with it
• Fewer bids, more winner concentration and sub-optimal incentives could be the main risks

Policy Recommendations

• Be precise with what you’re looking for and how you will value it in the selection process
• Consider bidder training programs as alternative or complementary tools
• Limit the number of instances a firm can be benefited by the policy, if the intention is to integrate firms more broadly into the economy