Includes bibliographical references and index.

"Framework agreements have arisen in response to the well documented and high costs of public procurement procedures. The agreements have significant potential to improve procedural efficiency in public procurement, but are complex to operate. Inadequate preparation and implementation can also frustrate their potential both to tackle waste, abuse and corruption and to enhance value for money. In this enlightening book, Gian Luigi Albano and Caroline Nicholas look at the key decisions required for designing and using framework agreements and address both legal and economic issues to give the reader a clear understanding of the planning, variables and flexibility needed for efficient implementation. This book will be of interest to policy makers, lawyers and public procurement practitioners who want to deepen their understanding of the legal and economic issues surrounding framework agreements"-- Provided by publisher.

"Public procurement policy is commonly grounded in terms of promoting best value for money and avoiding corruption, waste and abuse. Well-documented experience of failures in this regard, the enormous economic power of public procurement, and the expansion of world trade and efforts to liberalise it, have led to the development of formal rules governing public procurement at both the international and national levels. Many of those rules, in addition to requiring that procurement officials follow open competition (considered to be the most effective way of securing best value for the government), stipulate "honesty and integrity in source selection, and equality of opportunity for would-be contractors", together with requirements for internal controls, such as documenting decisions and formal approval processes"-- Provided by publisher.

Part I. The essentials of framework agreements: basic definitions, main economic forces and international experience -- 1. Introduction -- 2. Description, taxonomy and motivations for using framework agreements -- 3. Some key economic dimensions in framework agreements -- 4. The economic analysis of framework agreements -- 5. International experience in framework agreements -- 6. International experience in centralised purchasing -- Part Fostering competition and preventing collusion in framework agreements -- 7. Promoting effective competition and enhancing outcomes in framework agreements -- 8. Integrity concerns in framework agreements -- 9. Addressing risks of collusion in framework agreements -- Part III. The Design of framework agreements -- 10. Essential issues in framework agreements for the individual buyer -- 11. Framework agreements for centralised procurement -- 12. Legal and regulatory issues in framework agreements procedures.

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