The factors causing delays in public procurement: the Czech Republic versus the UK

ABSTRACT

This paper presents a comparison of time delays in the awarding of public sector contracts in the Czech Republic and the United Kingdom. The problem of these time delays has not been adequately addressed in the academic literature. The authors analysed the factors impacting on time delays in each country.

IMPACT

A significant portion of GDP, in all countries, is allocated via public procurement. This paper compares the length of procurement procedures in the Czech Republic and the UK and the reasons for delays. The authors highlight the absence of public policies on procurement in the Czech Republic. A basic prerequisite for improving the results of public procurement is for all actors in the process to be involved and committed: officials and politicians and the public.

KEYWORDS:

• Benchmarking
• comparison
• Czech Republic
• public procurement
• time delays
• UK

Acknowledgement

The paper was prepared within the project of the Czech Science Foundation ‘Alternative service delivery arrangements’ (GA19-06020S).

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Correction Statement

This article has been republished with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.