Public procurement as secondary policy : axioms and perspectives

Public Procurement as Secondary Policy: Axioms and Perspectives intends to analyse the debate on how public procurement can be used as a means to stimulate innovation.

The assertion that public procurement can be used as a means to stimulate innovation has over the years become established among policy makers, in academia as well as in practice.

The underlying idea is that public agencies could help to stimulate private sector innovation by putting out for tender public contracts on products, services or systems which, in order to be delivered, require some kind of innovative effort by the supplier. Recent academic thought reflects an ambition to inform policymakers’ promotion of the use of public procurement as a means to stimulate innovation.

This debate has consisted of more operational themes as for instance the role of procurement law and to what extent there prevail legal barriers when public procurement is to be used as a leaver for innovation; how to overcome public risk averseness, the importance of interacting with suppliers and formulating demand for innovation, etc.

The aim of this excellent new work is to provide an extended analysis of public procurement used as an innovation policy instrument.

It will be of interest to both academics and policy makers in the fields of public management, public administration and policy and related disciplines.