Assessing the development and efficiency of public procurement in Hungary

Abstract

Since 2009, according to market players, the key to increasing the efficiency of Hungarian public procurement has been to improve the public procurement culture and reduce corruption rather than change the relevant regulations. Our questionnaire-­based research, which we repeated five times, the key to judging efficiency is the degree of time needed for procedures, the flexibility of public procurement, and the risk for market participants. The market accepts some inefficiency relative to the competitive market by default and participants judge the market’s situation against that benchmark as medium. The adequacy of regulation is judged by the participants not against external benchmarks but primarily in the light of the results achieved. The development of the procurement market scores four (medium) on the seven-stage model based on Telgen et al. (2012) where the central issue of the procurement function is shifted to demonstrating that it is doing its job well, meaning it has procured the required items at the best value for money and that there has been no abuse of the process.