Policies to Stimulate Industrial Innovation by Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises: Lessons Learned from the Public Procurement of Innovation during Emergencies

Since the outbreak of COVID-19, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) have faced a heavy economic burden and uncertainty due to a contraction in resources and markets. As the world returns to normal conditions, we aim to synthesise key lessons from the pandemic and discuss which emergency actions should become routine to prevent or minimise the negative economic impact of future crises on SMEs and their innovation power. This paper reviews academic and non-academic literature on how governments can stimulate industrial innovation in SMEs based on experiences from public procurement of innovation during the pandemic. Our findings indicate that public procurement of innovation is a crucial tool to stimulate both the economy and new ideas. Against this backdrop, we propose the implementation of three related procurement policies: inter-agency and inter-governmental collaboration in the public procurement of innovation, cooperation partnerships between the government and firms, and the adoption of practices that encourage SME participation in the procurement of public innovation contracts. © 2023, Lexxion Verlagsgesellschaft mbH. All rights reserved.

Social equity in federal contracting during emergencies: A portfolio management perspective

While the U.S. federal government strives to advance social equity in government contracting through various policies to support small disadvantaged business enterprises (SDBEs), entry barriers persist. Drawing on federal government spending data from the initial response to the COVID-19 pandemic, this study estimates logistic and multinomial logistic regressions using portfolio management theory to understand what factors can favor SDBE participation in government contracts during the immediate response to emergencies and whether these factors differ when governments award strategic versus non-strategic contracts. The results show that governments do not necessarily have to reduce competition to favor SDBE participation in government contracts, as some of these suppliers can participate and win competitive procedures. Although non-SDBE suppliers were still more likely to be awarded contracts during the initial emergency response, SDBE suppliers were more likely to win procedures for strategic and important supplies. © 2023 American Society for Public Administration.