Highway to economic growth? Competition in public works tenders in the Democratic Republic of Congo

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Periodical article

Title:	Highway to economic growth? Competition in public works tenders in the Democratic Republic of Congo
Authors:	Galletta, Sergio Jametti, Mario Redonda, Agustin
Year:	2015
Periodical:	South African Journal of Economics (ISSN 0038-2280)
Volume:	83
Issue:	2
Pages:	240-252
Language:	English
Geographic term:	Congo (Democratic Republic of)
Subjects:	construction industry tendering public works
External link:	https://doi.org/10.1111/saje.12077
Abstract:	The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is one of the poorest countries in the world. The construction sector will play an essential part to bring the country on the path of economic growth, and competition within the sector is crucial to achieve this goal. In this paper, the authors analyse the effect of competition in public works tenders in the DRC, using a unique and newly assembled database on public works contracts. The authors find that the number of participating bidders significantly reduces contract prices, confirming the authors' prior hypothesis that competitive pressure can enhance the overall performance of the sector. Further, the authors account for the possibility of heteregenous tender participants, finding that the competition effect can vary with the degree of bidders' heterogeneity. Bibliogr., notes, ref., sum. [Journal abstract]