Freie Universität Berlin seeks to hire a postdoc in the project „Varieties of Procurement Regimes: How Do States Procure Strategically and to What Effect? (SProcure)" (co-lead: Prof. Dr. Miriam Hartlapp/ FU Berlin and Prof. Dr. David Levi-Faur/ Hebrew Universität Jerusalem) founded by the DFG.

 

Public procurement is one of the major instruments for governments to ensure state functions, to achieve public policy goals and to push the twin transition (energy and digitalization). OECD countries spend almost 15% of their GDP on public procurement. When purchasing states can seek strategic goals that go beyond a focus on best prize and seek green, social or innovation criteria. Strategic procurement implies a shift in the relation between state and market and raises questions about states’ priorities, policy coherence and the winners and losers of strategic procurement. SProcure asks how, when and with what effect states procure strategically. Addressing these questions, the project pursues three goals:

(1) conceptualizing and mapping of strategic procurement regimes,

(2) identifying varieties and ideal types of procurement regimes, and

(3) explaining outcomes and effects of procurement regimes.

Methodologically SProcure will build a data base on sectoral procurement regimes that allows to systematically compare countries and time periods. To this aim six primary cases from three sectors (health, social protection and defense) in two countries (Germany and Israel) will be compared and analyzed against twelve secondary cases from other countries.

 

Tasks:

Collaboration in the project SProcure, in particular:

- elaborating a case study on a sectoral procurement regime (social protection or defense) and two secondary cases

- assessing the sectoral procurement regimes in the data base and conduct macro-qualitative analysis

- contributing to project publications and organizing scientific workshops.

There are no teaching obligations attached to the position.

 

Requirements:

- doctorate in political and social sciences, with a focus on public policy, political economy and/ or comparative politics

 

Desirable:

- Excellent doctorate in political and social sciences, with a focus on public policy, political economy and/ or comparative politics

- Fluency in English

- Research experience on topics of regulation and governance, public policy in health, social protection or defense and/ or varieties of welfare states and capitalism

- a strong interest in quantitative and qualitative methods and a high ability to communicate and work in a team is desirable