Corruption Risk Indicators in Public Procurement: An extended opentender.eu framework

Abstract

This risk assessment methodology report presents the tools that the iMonitor project uses for measuring corruption risks in the public procurement process, which will serve to select high-risk contracts for civil monitoring in the project. After introducing the public procurement process, the report focuses on the key aspects of measuring corruption, which starts with an actionable definition of corruption in public procurement and a reasonably broad overview of common corruption technologies in the different phases of the public procurement process. Based on this theoretical foundation, a thorough discussion on corruption measurement approaches and the characteristics of the data employed is introduced, highlighting issues related to its scope, depth, accuracy and accessibility. Moving on to the practical application of the framework on opentender.eu, the nine individual integrity indicators and the Average Integrity Indicator Score available on the platform are presented in detail, specifying their connection to specific corruption risks and the relationship between corruption and integrity that underscores the conceptual background behind opentender.eu. The report concludes by discussing the usefulness as well as the limitations of such a risk assessment approach, touching upon how it must be complemented by further in-depth assessment and monitoring work, as will be developed in the iMonitor project.

Authors: Dániel Kofrán, Ágnes Czibik, Mihály Fazekas (Government Transparency Institute)
Date: 26/02/2024

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