Public contracts and dual non-compliance

This article examines how public contracts operate within South-South relations through a case study of Chinese investment in Bolivia. By focusing on two examples — infrastructure and the lithium sector — and drawing on domestic and international legal sources, investigative reports, and stakeholder interviews, it finds that the behaviours of non-compliance present significant challenges. Contrary to studies that focus primarily on the buyer state’s regulatory regime, the article introduces the concept of dual non-compliance to demonstrate how both weak regulatory frameworks in the buyer state and the relational dynamics between buyer states and the seller investors contribute to non-compliance in public contracting. While grounded in existing public contract theories, this study extends them by examining compliance dynamics in settings characterized by institutional fragility and informality. The analysis suggests that improving public contract outcomes in such settings requires attention to both the buyer state’s capacity and the relational dynamics between buyers and sellers.

China · Corporate governance · Global Financial Regulation and Crises · Public Procurement and Policy · Regulation and Compliance Studies