Purpose

Because of the renewed interest in public purchasing and the strategic use of public funds under the requirements of sustainable development, the question arose once again as to how to curb the fall of institutional quality once criteria other than price are inserted into the decision-making in public purchasing. E-procurement has been repeatedly named as one of the most efficient tools to that effect and the present paper sets out to discover whether the implementation of e-procurement in a particular country per se entails also higher institutional quality, allowing for a wider implementation of green and sustainable procurement at the national, regional and municipal level without the fear of worsening the country’s institutional quality. By analyzing the implementation of e-procurement in Denmark, the Netherlands and in Portugal, this paper aims to verify the hypothesis that the implementation of e-procurement implies better institutions in terms of public purchasing. As such, the conclusions will be used in further research on the prerequisites for a successful implementation of green public procurement across the European Union.

Design/methodology/approach

Gathering data on institutional quality of three early e-procurement adopters (Denmark, the Netherlands and Portugal) allows for comparison of institutional quality pre- and post-e-procurement implementation. By using difference-in-differences comparison the paper seeks to answer the question how doesmandatory e-procurement influence institutional quality on the national level.

Findings

The paper finds that the reform is generally associated with a relatively stronger control of corruption in the Netherlands and Denmark, while a similar reform in Portugal failed to translate into a stronger control of corruption. Furthermore, while using the quality of regulation as a dependent variable, a positive and robust effect on the quality of regulation in Denmark was shown, while the quality of reputation in the Netherlands and Portugal declined in the post-reform period, with the drop in the quality of regulation in Portugal being considerably greater, a two-fold higher amount than the estimated drop in the Netherlands. The paper suggests that in spite of the same aims, the reform yielded substantially different or even opposing effects compared to Denmark.

Research limitations/implications

By examining three examples of early adopters, further research with broader impact is needed to deduce general implications for e-procurement implementation. Furthermore, implementation of e-procurement at the regional or local level can also yield distinct results.

Social implications

Understanding the actual impact of e-procurement on institutional quality is indispensable for further study on the matter. The present study argues that e-procurement needs to be accompanied by additional measures or variables to yield a positive impact on institutional quality in public procurement.

Originality/value

As to originality, the present paper uses a law and economics approach, originating or better said drawing motivation from green public procurement concerns, trying to provide an insight in terms of tools that can be used to eliminate concerns regarding institutional quality when implementing green public procurement practices.

中文翻译：

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电子采购对机构质量的影响

目的

由于人们对公共购买产生了新的兴趣，并在可持续发展的要求下对公共资金进行了战略性使用，因此再次提出了一个问题，即一旦将价格以外的其他标准纳入决策过程，如何制止机构质量的下降。公共采购。电子采购已被反复命名为达到此效果的最有效工具之一，本文件旨在发现在特定国家/地区实施电子采购本身是否还需要更高的机构质量，从而可以更广泛地实施电子采购。在国家，地区和市政级别进行绿色和可持续的采购，而不必担心会恶化该国的机构质量。通过分析电子采购在丹麦，荷兰和葡萄牙的实施情况，本文旨在验证以下假设：在公共采购方面，电子采购的实施意味着更好的制度。因此，这些结论将用于进一步研究在整个欧盟范围内成功实施绿色公共采购的前提条件。

设计/方法/方法

通过收集三个早期电子采购采用者（丹麦，荷兰和葡萄牙）的机构质量数据，可以比较电子采购之前和之后实施的机构质量。通过使用差异差异比较，本文试图回答强制性电子采购如何在国家层面上影响制度质量的问题。

发现

该论文发现，该改革通常与荷兰和丹麦对腐败的相对较强的控制有关，而葡萄牙的类似改革未能转化为对腐败的更强有力的控制。此外，虽然将监管质量作为因变量，但对丹麦的监管质量产生了积极而有力的影响，而改革后的时期荷兰和葡萄牙的声誉质量却有所下降，葡萄牙的监管质量要高得多，比荷兰估计的下降幅度高两倍。该论文表明，尽管目标相同，但与丹麦相比，改革产生了根本不同甚至相反的效果。

研究局限/意义

通过研究三个早期采用者的例子，需要进行更广泛影响的进一步研究，以得出对电子采购实施的一般含义。此外，在区域或地方层面实施电子采购也可以产生明显的结果。

社会影响

了解电子采购对机构质量的实际影响对于此事的进一步研究是必不可少的。本研究认为，电子采购需要伴随其他措施或变量，以对公共采购中的机构质量产生积极影响。

创意/价值

关于原创性，本文采用法律和经济学的方法，源于或更佳地说是从绿色公共采购关注中汲取动力，试图就可用于消除实施绿色公共采购时对制度质量的关注的工具提供见解。实践。