Divided loyalties? The role of national IO staff in aid-funded procurement

Heinzel, M. (2022) Divided loyalties? The role of national IO staff in aid-funded procurement. Governance, 35(4), pp. 1183-1203. (doi: 10.1111/gove.12650)

Abstract

Many operational International Organizations (IOs) rely on national staff when implementing projects in member states. However, fears persist that the loyalties of national IO staff may be divided when working in their home countries. The article studies differences in more than 50,000 procurement decisions taken in 1729 projects overseen by World Bank staff working as expatriates or in their home countries. The empirical results show that when staff work in their home countries, national suppliers' probability of winning procurement contracts increases. However, these increases are not driven by restricted procurement processes—that exclude competition—which are often seen as red flags for corruption. Instead, restricted procurement processes seem to be less likely when staff work in their home countries. These findings imply that national IO staff use their country-specific knowledge to increase the development effectiveness of procurement in line with the mandate of the World Bank.

• Item Type: Articles
• Additional Information: Research Funding: German Research Foundation. Grant Number: FOR#1745 TP LI 1947/4-1
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Heinzel, Dr Mirko
• Authors: Heinzel, M.
• College/School: College of Social Sciences > School of Social and Political Sciences > Politics
• Journal Name: Governance
• Publisher: Wiley
• ISSN: 0952-1895
• ISSN (Online): 1468-0491
• Published Online: 12 December 2021
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2021 The Author
• First Published: First published in Governance 35(4): 1183-1203
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced under a Creative Commons License
• Data DOI: 10.7910/DVN/KVRYLC