Bureaucracy, Money, and Politicization: What Explains Variation in Competition in Public Procurement?

My dissertation investigates how political and bureaucratic factors shape competition in Brazil’s public procurement, with São Paulo as a case study. Despite procurement's significance—constituting up to 25% of global public spending—research outside Europe remains limited. My research argues that political dynamics, including campaign finance reforms, party alignment, and political appointments, impact competition by enabling favoritism and reducing transparency. With a CGII Graduate Global Research Grant, I plan to conduct fieldwork in São Paulo, interviewing bureaucrats and implementing survey experiments to examine how political pressures and institutional safeguards affect procurement outcomes, aiming to inform policy reforms that enhance transparency and fairness.