Firms’ Legality and Efficiency: Evidence from Public Procurement
Iossa ElisabettaLatour Chiara
CEIS Research Paper
Do firms with higher legality standards contribute to better procurement outcomes? We address this question in the context of Italian public works procurement, by combining contract-level data on procurement and firm-level data on legality scores, using the Legality Rating System managed by the Italian Antitrust Authority. We find that higher legality scores are positively associated with a significant and economically important improvement in procurement efficiency, measured by shorter time delays and lower extra costs.
 
 
Number: 592
Keywords: Cartels, corruption, firm efficiency, legality, procurement
JEL codes: H57,K40,L4
Volume: 23
Issue: 1
Date: Monday, February 10, 2025
Revision Date: Monday, February 10, 2025