CEU Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2025
| Author | Pahumi, Fjorela |
|---|---|
| Title | Beyond the Ballot Box: How Politics Shapes Public Procurement in Albanian Local Governments |
| Summary | In democratic societies, transparent public procurement systems are essential for efficient resource allocation and maintaining public trust. However, their integrity remains poorly understood in transitional democracies characterized by strong clientelistic networks and centralized resource allocation. In Albania, municipalities rely heavily on central government transfers while operating within a political system dominated by strong national parties and persistent informal networks, potentially creating conditions under which political alignment may influence both spending and procurement integrity. This paper examines how political alignment with the national government and electoral competitiveness affect procurement spending and corruption risks in Albanian municipalities from 2010 to 2024. Using comprehensive administrative procurement data and employs regression analysis with municipality and year fixed effects regression models, the analysis finds that aligned municipalities spend 53 percent more per voter on public procurement and exhibit a 0.051-point higher Corruption Risk Index on average (p<0.001). These effects are most pronounced during pre-election periods, where the interaction between alignment and narrow electoral margins significantly amplifies corruption risk (interaction coefficient = -0.065, p < 0.001). The findings suggest that electoral competition does not constrain corrupt behavior but rather exacerbates it when combined with political alignment, challenging conventional wisdom about political competition serving as a check on corruption in weak institutional contexts. These findings highlight the need for institutional reforms that address not only formal procurement rules but also the political incentives that distort public resource allocation. Keywords: political alignment, electoral competitiveness, public procurement, corruption, Albania, distributive politics, democratic governance |
| Supervisor | Fazekas, Mihaly |
| Department | Public Policy MA |
| Full text | https://www.etd.ceu.edu/2025/pahumi_fjorela.pdf |
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