Public Procurement Efficiency and Enforcement: Evidence from Kazakhstan and Russia

International Journal of Public Administration. 2026. Vol. 49. No. 1. P. 1–13.

Rodionova Y., Balaeva O., Yakovlev A. A., Tkachenko A.

This paper examines the role of enforcement institutions and public procurement efficiency in two transition economies. Based on a survey of suppliers in Kazakhstan and Russia, the analysis reveals significant differences in public procurement efficiency assessments. Kazakhstani suppliers, on average, evaluate public procurement efficiency lower and report a higher number of procurement problems. These differences can be explained by variations in enforcement practices and weak mechanisms for protecting supplier rights in the case of procurers’ non-compliance with obligations in Kazakhstan. Thus, we empirically show that Kazakhstani suppliers encountering such formal procedural violations during the contract execution stage made significantly lower assessments of public procurement efficiency.

Keywords: развивающиеся страны, Казахстан, Россия, Russia, developing countries, Kazakhstan, public procurement regulation, law enforcement, правоприменение, регулирование государственных закупок

Publication based on the results of: Adjustment of manufacturing enterprises to the consequences of severe economic sanctions and the formation of a new business environment (2024)