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Bribery in Public Procurement
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Public works contracts are big business. From major infrastructure
projects such as power stations and roads to building public universities and
equipping them with telecommunications, government purchasing for goods
and services carries enormous financial power. In fact, in OECD countries,
public procurement is estimated to account for 15% of GDP; in many non-
OECD countries, that figure is even higher. Government contracts clearly
mean valuable, often long-term, business opportunities. For a large
engineering company, in energy for instance, securing a contract can also
open up other business opportunities for its own suppliers. Not surprisingly,
competition for government contracts can be fierce, whether at local,
national or international level. Much of the time, this drives healthy
economic activity. But it also makes public procurement a hotbed for
bribery. Left unchecked, a culture of corruption can take root and becomes
hard to remove. Indeed, even the most normally upstanding of entrepreneurs
have admitted that in some markets, bribery is simply a normal way of doing
business. This of course is a delusion: bribery distorts markets and
undermines trust in government and institutions. It destroys value and jobs,
and indeed, business. With bribery, no-one really wins.