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Public Procurement, by Sue Arrowsmith and Keith Hartley (Eds.) (Northampton, Massachusetts: Edward Edgar Publishing Limited, 2002, hardcover, ISBN 1 84064 096 0 (2 volume set), 1,416 pages, $450.00).
Public Procurement is a two-volume set, consisting of 52 reprints from edited books and academic journals such as European Journal of Purchasing and Supply Management, Fiscal Studies, International Journal of Public Sector Management, Journal of Law and Economics, Journal of World Trade, New York Law School Law Review, Public Procurement Law Review, etc. Each volume is divided into "parts," each covering a different theme, issue or problem in public procurement. Volume I (572 pages long, excluding 19 pages of "Introduction," two pages of table of contents, and two pages of acknowledgements) consists of the four following parts:
- Part 1. Outsourcing versus Internal Provision. This part has five reprints covering transaction cost economics of contracts, and competitive tendering and contracting as follows:
- Oliver E. Williamson (1979), "Transaction Cost Economics: The Governance of Contractual Relations, Journal of Law and Economics;
- Simon Domberger, and Stephen Rimmer (1994), "Competitive Tendering and Contracting in the Public Sector: A Survey," International Journal of Economics of Business;
- George A. Boyne (1998), "Competitive Tendering in Local Government: A Review of Theory and Evidence," Public Administration;
- Robin Milme, and Magnus McGee (1992), "Compulsory Competitive Tendering in the NHS: A New Look at Some Old Estimates," Fiscal Studies;
- Stephan Szymanski, and Sean Wilkins (1993), "Cheap Rubbish? Competitive Tendering and Contracting Out in Refuse Collection1981-88," Fiscal Studies.
- Part 2. The Approach to Procurement in the Public Sector: Competition and Transparency. This part covers such issues as counter-speculation, auctions, and competitive sealed tenders; franchise bidding for natural monopolies; the United Nations procurement law model, the Japanese public procurement system, the economics of partnership sourcing; and purchase cards and micro-purchases in six following reprints:
- William Vickrey (1961), "Counterspeculation, Auctions, and Competitive Sealed Tenders," Journal of Finance;
Oliver E. Williamson (1976), "Franchise Bidding for natural Monopolies-in General and with Respect to CATV," Bell Journal of Economics;
- Robert Hunja (1998), "The UNCITRAL Model Law on Procurement of Goods, Construction and Services and its Impact on Procurement Reform," in Sue Arrowsmith and Arned Davies (Eds.), Public procurement: Global Revolution;
- Jean Heilman Grier (1998),...