The impact of e-procurement on competition in public procurement: Insights from Morocco.

Abstract

Abstract

This paper examines the impact of electronic public procurement implementation on competition, with a particular focus on the recent public procurement reform introduced in Morocco in 2023, requiring the digitization of tenders’ management, and generalizing electronic submissions. To measure competition, our study used the number of submissions per tender to analyze the differences between participation before the 2023 reform and the period after it. To conduct our analysis, we selected a random sample of 200 tenders initiated in the city of Rabat in Morocco, in the category of services, our sample included 100 tenders that were processed before the implementation of the reform, and 100 tenders after the reform took effect. Our results revealed that although participation to tenders increased after the implementation of the reform, the observed positive trends were not statistically significant. Which raises questions about the factors limiting the effectiveness of electronic public procurement in promoting competition. Possible reasons may be a low level in digital literacy for some bidders or the non-access to adequate technology to adapt to the reform and benefit from it. It remains important to address the reasons behind the non-significance of this increase in participation, to optimize the benefits that e-procurement can offer through a beneficially competitive environment. These findings offer policymakers important insights for advancing e-procurement systems in the public sector and make sure the reform reaches its intended goals.

Keywords: Public Procurement; Public E-Procurement; Competition; Electronic submissions; Moroccan Public Procurement Reform.