Supplier selection methods in public procurement

Abstract: In what follows, two properties characterizing supplier selection methods, namely, transparency and independence of irrelevant alternatives, will be properly discerned. Consecutively, three hypotheses, concerning the impact these properties have on the procurement outcome, will be suggested. Transparency is presumed to decrease the likelihood of having a locally established winner as well as to increase the intensity of competition. Independence of irrelevant alternatives, similarly, is presumed to lower the price paid to the winning tenderer. Each hypothesis is subsequently confronted by data on Swedish public procurements. The first, seemingly, is being lent support by this data while the second and third is not.