Public Procurement's Long Covid

Emergency Responses and Shifting Corruption Risks in Europe

Dados Bibliográficos

ID21787805
AutoresMihály Fazekas (0000-0002-8477-3961, Central European University), Zdravko Veljanov (Central European University), Aly Abdou (Government Transparency Institute Budapest Hungary)
Ano2026
Data de publicação2026-06-26
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessSim
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoRegulation & Governance (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 1748-5983 • E-ISSN: 1748-5991
EditoraWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/rego.70177
OpenAlexW7166185137
IdiomaEN
Referências citadas30

The COVID‐19 pandemic caused an unprecedented surge in spending to combat the pandemic with widespread accusations of corruption. The magnitude, drivers, and trajectory of corruption across the pandemic response remain underexplored. This paper approximates the impacts of the pandemic on public procurement corruption risks and the mechanisms underpinning their persistence and diffusion. Administrative data on all high‐value, regulated government tenders across Europe from 2016 to 2023 are analyzed. Fixed‐effects regressions on the contract level estimate the impact of the pandemic‐induced spending shock on corruption risks. We find that the COVID‐19 spending surge was followed by sustained increases in corruption risks, particularly in medium‐integrity countries. This is largely driven by market entrants without COVID‐19‐product experience exploiting weaker pandemic corruption controls to secure large contracts. We also find small spillover effects from corruption risks in COVID‐19‐related products to healthcare and wider procurement markets, driven by buyers normalizing emergency procurement practices beyond emergency contracts

Language change · Pandemic · Procurement · Public spending · Spillover effect · Corruption and Economic Development · COVID-19 Pandemic Impacts · Public Procurement and Policy