Anti-corruption capabilities of public e-procurement technologies: principal-agent theory

Public procurement is an important area warranting further attention in government reform, as electronic systems for procurement have enormous potential to help reduce corruption. Public e-procurement is the use of an internet or web-based system by government institutions for the acquisition of goods and services, which can improve transparency and accountability. This Chapter discusses different types of e-procurement technologies with case examples from different countries that demonstrate how the e-procurement technologies have great potential as the anti-corruption technologies. The Chapter reviews the principal-agent theory and discusses other relevant theories including transaction cost theory, fraud triangle theory, diffusion of innovation theory, and technology acceptance model. Following a discussion of the anti-corruption potential of e-procurement systems, a theoretical research model is proposed for identifying public e-procurement anti-corruption capabilities.