Small- and medium-sized enterprises in public procurement in primary social and healthcare services

Martti Saarela, Eija-Riitta Niinikoski, Matti Muhos, Ville Isoherranen and Pekka Leviäkangas

International Journal of Procurement Management, 2018, vol. 11, issue 1, 76-95

Abstract: Small- and medium-sized enterprise (SME) policies tend traditionally to focus on supply-side support instruments. However, public procurement provides a potential demand-side SME policy tool to enhance SMEs and maintain competition in the market. SMEs are often under-represented in public procurement compared to their overall economic weight. Existing literature provides limited information on the instruments of public service providers to create business opportunities for SMEs. The aim of this single case study is to describe the role of SMEs in the statutory public service provision of primary social and healthcare. The study also provides insight into the public service provider's ability to facilitate SME access to public procurement and thereby to enhance the efficiency of the local market. We found that a service voucher system could be an additional option for public procurement, as it allows more flexibility in involving small businesses in the production of public services.

Keywords: public procurement; small- and medium-sized enterprise; SME; SME policy; entrepreneurship; social and healthcare; micro-companies; micro-enterprises; public business support; service voucher; sparsely populated area; Finland. (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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