Political Contributions and Public Procurement: Evidence from Lithuania

2019 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 541-582 ◽  
Author(s):  
Audinga Baltrunaite
Keyword(s):  
Public Procurement ◽  
Relevant Information ◽  
Firm Characteristics ◽  
Political Contributions ◽  
The Past ◽  
Percentage Points ◽  
Combining Data ◽  
Procurement Contracts ◽  
Corporate Contributions

Abstract This paper studies whether firms trade political contributions for public procurement contracts. Combining data on Lithuanian government tenders, corporate donors, and firm characteristics, I examine how a ban on corporate contributions affects the awarding of procurement contracts to companies that donated in the past. Consistent with political favoritism, donors’ probability of winning falls by five percentage points as compared to that of nondonor firms after the ban. Evidence on bidding and victory margins suggests that corporate donors may receive auction-relevant information affecting procurement outcomes in their favor.

scholarly journals Looking at the Nudibranch Family Myrrhinidae (Gastropoda, Heterobranchia) from a Mitochondrial ‘2D Folding Structure’ Point of View

Life ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. 583
Author(s):  
Giulia Furfaro ◽  
Paolo Mariottini
Keyword(s):  
16S Rrna ◽  
Phylogenetic Analyses ◽  
Integrative Taxonomy ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Past Study ◽  
Mitochondrial Coi ◽  
The Past ◽  
Combining Data ◽  
Folding Structure ◽  
Comparison Of The Results

Integrative taxonomy is an evolving field of multidisciplinary studies often utilised to elucidate phylogenetic reconstructions that were poorly understood in the past. The systematics of many taxa have been resolved by combining data from different research approaches, i.e., molecular, ecological, behavioural, morphological and chemical. Regarding molecular analysis, there is currently a search for new genetic markers that could be diagnostic at different taxonomic levels and that can be added to the canonical ones. In marine Heterobranchia, the most widely used mitochondrial markers, COI and 16S, are usually analysed by comparing the primary sequence. The 16S rRNA molecule can be folded into a 2D secondary structure that has been poorly exploited in the past study of heterobranchs, despite 2D molecular analyses being sources of possible diagnostic characters. Comparison of the results from the phylogenetic analyses of a concatenated (the nuclear H3 and the mitochondrial COI and 16S markers) dataset (including 30 species belonging to eight accepted genera) and from the 2D folding structure analyses of the 16S rRNA from the type species of the genera investigated demonstrated the diagnostic power of this RNA molecule to reveal the systematics of four genera belonging to the family Myrrhinidae (Gastropoda, Heterobranchia). The “molecular morphological” approach to the 16S rRNA revealed to be a powerful tool to delimit at both species and genus taxonomic levels and to be a useful way of recovering information that is usually lost in phylogenetic analyses. While the validity of the genera Godiva, Hermissenda and Phyllodesmium are confirmed, a new genus is necessary and introduced for Dondice banyulensis, Nemesis gen. nov. and the monospecific genus Nanuca is here synonymised with Dondice, with Nanuca sebastiani transferred into Dondice as Dondice sebastiani comb. nov.

Examining year-end spending spikes in the European Economic Area: a comparative study of procurement contracts

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Clifford P. McCue ◽  
Eric Prier ◽  
Ryan J. Lofaro
Keyword(s):  
Comparative Study ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Public Procurement ◽  
Fourth Quarter ◽  
European Economic Area ◽  
Content Type ◽  
European Economic ◽  
Economic Area ◽  
Contract Type ◽  
Procurement Contracts

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to analyze year-end spending practices in the European Economic Area (EEA) to baseline the pervasiveness of year-end spending spikes across countries in Europe.Design/methodology/approachThe Tenders Electronic Daily dataset is used to descriptively analyze above-threshold procurement contracts by country, year and contract type from 2009 to 2018. Proportional distributions are employed to compare percentages of spend across quarters. Analyses are run within each country on the number of years displaying a fourth quarter spike, as well as within each country and contract type.FindingsThe results show that while spending spikes for above-threshold contracts in the final fiscal quarter are not consistent across all countries, patterns emerge when the data are disaggregated by country. The most populous nations in the EEA are more likely to have years with the highest proportion of fiscal spend occurring in the fourth quarter. Further, the type of contract makes a difference – services and supplies contracts are more likely to display fourth quarter spikes than works contracts.Originality/valueThis article provides the first analysis of the year-end spending spike across countries in Europe using procurement data, as well as the first to disaggregate by year and contract type. Findings support the literature on the presence of year-end spikes; such spikes exist even for above-threshold public procurement contracts.

scholarly journals ARBITRATION OF THE DISPUTES IN CONNECTION WITH PUBLIC PROCUREMENT CONTRACTS IN BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA

2021 ◽  
pp. 65-72
Author(s):  
Z. Grbo
Keyword(s):  
Bosnia And Herzegovina ◽  
Public Procurement ◽  
The Public ◽  
Procurement Contract ◽  
Legal Nature ◽  
Arbitration Procedure ◽  
Procurement Contracts

In the article, the author analyses the possibilities of using arbitration procedure to settle disputes arising from the conclusion of a public procurement contract in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The author studies the nature of the public procurement contract and concludes that this contract is of a private legal nature, so the resolution of disputes related to the execution of the contract is possible in arbitration proceedings.

Late Quaternary Paleotemperatures Derived from a Speleothem from Cango Caves, Cape Province, South Africa

1992 ◽  
Vol 37 (2) ◽  
pp. 203-213 ◽  
Author(s):  
A.S. Talma ◽  
John C. Vogel
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Isotopic Composition ◽  
Late Quaternary ◽  
Carbon Isotopic Composition ◽  
Temperature Record ◽  
The Past ◽  
Carbon Isotopic ◽  
Groundwater Aquifer ◽  
Combining Data ◽  
The Last Glacial

AbstractAn oxygen isotope temperature record over a large part of the past 30,000 yr has been obtained for the southern Cape Province of South Africa by combining data on the isotopic composition of a stalagmite from a deep cave with that of a confined groundwater aquifer in the same region. Results show that temperatures during the last glacial maximum were on average about 6°C lower than those today, with peaks up to 7°C lower. A detailed analysis of the past 5000 yr suggests multiple fluctuations, with generally lower temperatures (1–2°C) around 4500 and 3000 yr B.P. The carbon isotopic composition of the stalagmite indicates significant vegetation changes between the late Pleistocene and today, and also during the second half of the Holocene.

Green Public Procurement

2019 ◽  
pp. 136-160
Author(s):  
Carmen Lenuta Trica ◽  
Luminita Ghita
Keyword(s):  
Public Procurement ◽  
Legal Framework ◽  
The Public ◽  
Green Procurement ◽  
Product Categories ◽  
Legal Provisions ◽  
Green Public Procurement ◽  
Environmental Requirements ◽  
Procurement Contracts

At present, legal provisions and environmental policy regulate the possibilities of using environmental considerations in the development of award criteria, as well as in the performance clauses of procurement contracts. The first part of the chapter analyzes the concept of green procurement and product categories for which green procurement can be used. The second part of the chapter presents the benefits of using green procurement. The third part of the chapter will include assessing the progress and impact of using green procurement. The fourth part of the chapter analyzes the legal framework for public procurement in Romania, as well as the capacity of the market to offer and develop products and services that include minimum environmental requirements and criteria. In the fifth part of the chapter, the authors analyze the possibility of implementing a mechanism for the operation and implementation of the legal provisions in Romania in order to improve the quality of the services and optimize the costs of the public procurement.

scholarly journals Poincaré-Type Inequalities for Compact Degenerate Pure Jump Markov Processes

Mathematics ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (6) ◽  
pp. 518 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pierre Hodara ◽  
Ioannis Papageorgiou
Keyword(s):  
Membrane Potential ◽  
Point Process ◽  
Markov Processes ◽  
Relevant Information ◽  
Neural System ◽  
Brain Neurons ◽  
Actual Position ◽  
The Past ◽  
Poincaré Type Inequalities ◽  
Jump Markov Processes

We aim to prove Poincaré inequalities for a class of pure jump Markov processes inspired by the model introduced by Galves and Löcherbach to describe the behavior of interacting brain neurons. In particular, we consider neurons with degenerate jumps, i.e., which lose their memory when they spike, while the probability of a spike depends on the actual position and thus the past of the whole neural system. The process studied by Galves and Löcherbach is a point process counting the spike events of the system and is therefore non-Markovian. In this work, we consider a process describing the membrane potential of each neuron that contains the relevant information of the past. This allows us to work in a Markovian framework.

The Efficacy of Australia Adopting a Debarment Regime in Public Procurement

2020 ◽  
pp. 0067205X2097347
Author(s):  
Olivia Dixon
Keyword(s):  
Public Sector ◽  
Competitive Advantage ◽  
Public Procurement ◽  
Public Funds ◽  
Policy Goals ◽  
The Government ◽  
Corporate Integrity ◽  
Robust Measures ◽  
Procurement Contracts

While transparent and efficient public sector procurement systems facilitate innumerable opportunities for stakeholders, the scale and scope of the global procurement market has rendered it increasingly vulnerable to corruption. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development estimates that annually US$2 trillion of public funds is lost to corruption, yet governments have failed to respond with robust measures to deter such practice. Through comparing the debarment frameworks and policy goals across five jurisdictions, this article argues that Australia should consider adopting a discretionary debarment regime. By excluding bidders who have engaged in ‘corporate integrity offences’ from procurement contracts, debarment policies offer a potentially important mechanism in the fight against corruption. Debarment would not only protect the government from current threats, but it may also deter potential wrongdoers, encourage contractors to rehabilitate themselves, incapacitate actual offenders and facilitate development of a culture of compliance through the competitive advantage gains enjoyed by law-abiding firms.

Evaluation criteria versus firm characteristics as determinants of public R&D funding

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin Thomas Falk ◽  
Roger Svensson
Keyword(s):  
Firm Size ◽  
Small Firms ◽  
Evaluation Criteria ◽  
Knowledge Gain ◽  
Firm Characteristics ◽  
Firm Level ◽  
Acceptance Probability ◽  
Percentage Points ◽  
Evaluation Scores ◽  
To Receive

Abstract This study provides new empirical evidence regarding the relevance of evaluation criteria and firm characteristics for public R&D funding decisions. The database used contains both accepted and rejected R&D project proposals, project evaluation scores, and several firm characteristics. The probit estimations show that proposals with high scores on innovative content, spillover, and knowledge gain are significantly more likely to be approved and that most firm-level characteristics are not significant, except for firm size. For example, good or very good assessments of innovative content raise the acceptance probability by between 18 and 37 percentage points, respectively. Small firms are more likely to receive a grant.

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