自由裁量的两面：评估政府采购中的效率与质量

摘要

Using a rule in Brazil exempting small-value public purchases from competitive bidding, this paper reveals an efficiency-quality trade-off in public procurement. Discretionary purchases are 17% costlier than auctions, but two-fifths of this premium reflects more expensive and higher-quality brands, as measured by independent consumer product testing scores and pharmaceutical quality violation records from health authorities. While discretion introduces inefficiencies, it can also benefit public service delivery by enabling the acquisition of more reliable products. Consistent with this, hospitals using discretion to purchase higher-quality medicines are associated with lower inpatient mortality. These findings emphasize the need for regulations that balance efficiency and quality concerns when limiting discretion.