ART - Public Procurement and Contracting in Bangladesh 2007

This document is a research paper that analyzes the perceptions of Bangladeshi civil servants towards public procurement and contracting practices in Bangladesh. The study reveals that civil servants in Bangladesh have diverse perceptions towards these practices, although they share some commonalities. The majority of civil servants are familiar with public purchasing in Bangladesh, but a smaller percentage is familiar with contracting and outsourcing. The paper discusses the adoption of privatization as an economic policy reform in Bangladesh and the increasing use of contracting out for public procurement. It also examines the arguments for and against contracting out, including its potential benefits for efficiency and service quality, as well as concerns about loss of expertise and corruption. The paper then presents the purpose of the study, which is to analyze the perceptions of Bangladeshi civil servants towards procurement and contracting practices. It discusses previous research on employee perceptions towards contract-related issues in other countries and explains the data and methodology used in this study, which involved interviewing 120 civil servants from different levels in six ministries. The study specifically focuses on mid-level civil servants, equivalent to deputy secretaries or public officials of their equivalent ranks, to gain insights into their perceptions and attitudes towards public procurement and contracting practices in Bangladesh.