Regional Diff erences in Relative Prices of State Contracts: the Role of Information Transparency

Abstract

Regional expences in Russia on state-related procurements such as delivering goods, doing different work and servises to meet the state needs, are so big, that effective price policy of state contracts, i.e. producing communal goods of high quality and at possibly minimal price, still remains  very important. Thus, it is necessary to understand what the price setting of state contracts depends on, what can affect it. The authors of the article, analyzing the relative prices of state contracts on petrol and diesel fuel, came to the conclusion that the more transparent information about state procurements is, the lower prices of state contracts are going to be. Information transparency infl uences both the number of perspective participants of the auction and their stratigic behaviour during the auction, which,in its turn, impacts the amount of price. Both factors are considered in this article.