Zan Song SURF SMART
Corruption in Collusion: Evidence from Public Procurement in China
Public procurement is an essential channel for government to buy items at the best possible price and quality. However, many developing countries lack a systematic track of public procurement, leaving space for wrongdoers to engage in improper behavior. Procurement expenditure contributes significantly to GDP, so it is vital to prevent corruption in public procurement and invest money wisely. This project aims to use econometric methodologies to highlight the existence of corruption and collusion problems in Chinese public procurement. This summer I will work under the supervision of Qianmiao Chen to detect the non-competitive behaviors of firms in public procurement in China and estimate the proportion of procurement in which the evidence of corrupt practice is present. I will collect and clean data on public procurement; investigate the relationship between procurement procedures and corruption indicators using regression analysis; and provide empirical evidence for future policy change in public procurement.
Message To Sponsor
SURF-SMART is going to be a valuable opportunity for me to improve my research skills and have a better understanding of market competition and political economics. This will motivate me to develop my own research focus and contribute to a more equitable world in the future. Thank you again for this experience.