The Diploma thesis deals with the public procurement issue and the bid rigging. The first part of this thesis is focused theoretically on related legislation of public procurement in the Czech Republic. Herein are in this thesis defined public pro-curements and their types, role of contracting authority and award procedure. The further chapter is devoted to the bid rigging and to its theoretical background. The second part of thesis analyses decisions of the case law of bid rigging, influence of the bid rigging. Furthermore, there are suggested the possible results of detection and prevention of bid rigging.

The thesis provides for a comprehensive legal overview of bid rigging and its manifestation in public procurement. Bid rigging is defined as coordination of competitors in tenders which is not necessary and which is executed when these competitors submit bids according to the conditions agreed among them. The thesis briefly sums up available information on occurrence of bid rigging with emphasis on the only two cases of bid rigging that have been identified, proved and sanctioned in the Czech Republic. This information suggests that despite the fact that the risk of bid rigging is higher at certain markets, notably markets with limited number of competitors present thereon, it may take place in any market. Bid rigging is further analysed as a prohibited agreement distorting competition which always distorts or prevents competitions and as such is considered one of the most serious anti- competitive practices capable of causing immense economic damage. A separate chapter tackles bid rigging in public procurement. This chapter analyses legal basis of prohibition of bid rigging in public procurement, its impact on principles of efficiency, effectiveness and expediency, and points out factors that may support occurrence of bid rigging. With regards to this analysis, the thesis formulates several...

This thesis is a case study examining Czech public procurement in medi- cal machinery industry. It proposes and applies several practical methods for identifying risk of bid rigging, such as: frequency analysis of participation of the same small groups of firms, analyzing ownership structure of participating firms and frequency analysis of systematically excluded bids of firms. Results include presence of cases of the same small groups of firms which bid more fre- quently together with no other competitors. Main contribution of the work lays in outlining some analytical possibilities for practical detection of bid rigging risk. JEL Classification H57, H75, K42 Keywords public procurement, bid rigging, Czech Repub- lic, medical machinery Author's e-mail janamar@atlas.cz Supervisor's e-mail jskuhrovec@gmail.com Abstrakt Tato práce je případovou studií zkoumající veřejné zakázky z oblasti me- dicínského vybavení. Práce navrhuje a aplikuje následující praktické metody pro odhalení rizika bid riggingu: frekvenční analýza účasti stejné malé skupiny firem, analýzu vlastnické strukury firem a frekvenční analýzu počtu vyřazených nabídek. Analýza odhalila případy skupin malých firem, které spolu často soutěží v omezené konkurenci. Hlavním přínosem práce je nastínění...

The law does not regulate the bidding process; it’s the seller who, in consultation with the estate agent, decides the rules. If the estate agent does not inform all the bidders about conditions  attached to the bids,it means that a bidder bid against something he s not fully informed about. This means that the lack of transparency in the bidding process leads to asymmetric information between the bidders and this could be detrimental to a bidder and for the benefit of another. This paper has been written in order to investigate how consumers and the housing market is Affected by the law not regulating the estate agent to inform all the bidders of conditions attached To the bids. Previously nothing has been written on this subject, which means that this paper is of an explorative--‐  and investigative character. Since there was no access to any secondary data in this study, the major part of the work was to collect primary data. The collection of data consisted of a survey to estate agents, a survey/interview to  uyers/speculators And interviews with a number of individuals with special expertise in the subject. The investigations carried out, resulted in a discussion and analysis of how consumers are affected by The estate agent not having to provide information about conditional bids to all bidders. The answers in interviews is not conclusive, there are both pros and cons of not having the bidding Process regulated by law. The conclusion also includes a discussion on how housing prices can be affected by the bidding not being regulated by law regarding conditions. This conclusion is that the prices could both increase and decrease by a regulation of the bidding process, depending on the scenario.

The author analyses the existing legislation regarding crime related to public procurement, focusing on those that directly relate to public procurement. The primary objective of this thesis is a thorough analysis of sections 248 paragraph 2 alinea 2, section 256 and section 257 of the Czech criminal code. Following a brief historical introduction this thesis describes some of the important legal instruments present in the new law regulating public procurement, emphasising the new ones that may have a strong impact on criminal liability. The main part of the thesis then analyses the three aforementioned crimes, putting emphasis on the recent decisions of the Czech courts in this matter. The author also provides practical examples of criminal conduct related to public procurement. The author also focuses on some other crimes that may not be directly related to public procurement, but are in practice more or less often committed in relation to public procurement or together with the three aforementioned crimes. The author has also carried out a detailed analysis of the available case-law related to the crimes described in sections 248 paragraph 2 alinea 2 and 257 of the Czech criminal code in a time period between its entry into force up to the date of submitting this thesis. The reason for this...

The dissertation aims to examine the phenomenon of systemic corruption in the Czech public procurement environment and to propose a theoretical concept that would help to identify the causes and risks of this phenomenon. In parallel, the dissertation elaborates on the basis for proposing an effective anti-corruption policy that would address the underlying systemic causes. Methodologically, the dissertation builds on the analysis of public procurement by the Office for the Protection of Competition and the Supreme Audit Office, on the court case analysis and media discourse and also on interviews with respondents from the Czech public administration, academia, non-profit sector, and investigative bodies.

The research problem for this study was that forensic investigators in the Forensic Services (FS) of the City of Tshwane (CoT) are unable to successfully deal with procurement fraud as a result of the lack of knowledge, skills and resources required to conduct computer forensics during the investigation of procurement fraud. This research was conducted to ascertain the value of computer forensics in the investigation of procurement fraud. Further, the study sought to determine how to improve the CoT forensic investigators’ knowledge and competence regarding the application of computer forensics in the investigation of procurement fraud. The purpose of this study was to explore the procedures that should be followed by CoT forensic investigators when conducting computer forensics during the investigation of procurement fraud. The research also aimed to discover new information, not previously known to the researcher, related to computer forensics during the investigation of procurement fraud by exploring national and international literature. In addition, the study explored existing practices so as to use this information to improve the current CoT procedure, within the confines of the legislative requirements. The overall purpose of this study is to provide practical recommendations for best practices, based on the results of the data analysis, which address the problem and enhance the investigative skills of CoT forensic investigators. The study established that it is imperative and compulsory to apply computer forensics in any procurement fraud investigation in order to efficiently track down cyber criminals and solve complicated and complex computer crimes. It was also established that forensic investigators within the FS in the CoT lack the necessary computer skills to optimally investigate procurement fraud. It is therefore recommended that CoT forensic investigators acquire the necessary skills and essential training in computer forensics in order to improve their knowledge and competence regarding the application and understanding of the value of computer forensics in the investigation of procurement fraud. / School of Criminal Justice / M.Tech. (Forensic Investigation)

Le projet de thèse présente différentes méthodes empiriques permettant de détecter des cartels. Il vise à démontrer premièrement que des résultats efficaces peuvent être obtenus avec de simples indicateurs statistiques et deuxièmement que les méthodes économétriques traditionnelles ne sont pas aussi efficaces. / The PhD studies different empirical methods to detect bid-rigging cartels. It shows first that simple statistical screens perform very well to detect bid-rigging infringement. Second, the econometric method of Bajari, well established in the literature, produces poor results.

La thèse a été évaluée par les personnes suivantes: Carlo Morselli, directeur de recherche et professeur à l'École de criminologie; Anthony Amicelle, président du jury et professeur à l'École de criminologie; Jean Bérard, membre du jury et professeur à l'École de criminologie; Carla Nagels, évaluatrice externe et professeur à l'Université libre de Bruxelles L'auteur aimerait remercier le Fonds de recherche du Québec - Société et culture (FRQSC), le Centre international de criminologie comparée (CICC) et l'École de criminologie pour le support financier octroyé à différentes étapes de la rédaction de la thèse. / La recherche trouve ses origines d’un scandale touchant l’industrie de la construction et les milieux politiques au Québec de la fin des années 2000 (à travers les allégations de corruption et de collusion soulevées par les médias) à la fin novembre 2015 (avec le dépôt du rapport final de la Commission d’enquête sur l’octroi et la gestion des contrats publics dans l’industrie de la construction, ci-après CEIC). L’argument principal est que les années de scandale ont permis au Québec de transiter d’une province considérée comme la terre mythique de la corruption au Canada à une entité développant une des structures anticorruptions les plus novatrices et sophistiquées dans le monde. La thèse est construite comme une étude de cas qui s’intègre aux trois grandes sphères de l’étude du phénomène criminel telles que définies par Sutherland et Cressey, à savoir le passage à l’acte, la réaction sociale et le contrôle social (1947, p.1). Dans l’étude du passage à l’acte, le concept de crime étatico-corporatif est mis à profit afin d’exposer l’aspect symbiotique des systèmes criminels alimentés à travers une interaction fondamentale entre poursuite d’intérêts publics et poursuite d’intérêts privés. De tels systèmes furent en effet identifiés dans plusieurs municipalités du Québec. Pour cette partie de la thèse, les données relatives à l’ensemble des contrats de construction octroyés par appel d’offres public par la ville de Laval dans son histoire (1965-2013) sont analysées à travers diverses mesures de réseaux sociaux. Cette portion de la thèse utilise également les témoignages issus des travaux de la CEIC, et des entretiens semi-directifs réalisés avec des acteurs provenant de diverses autorités de lutte à la collusion (truquage des appels d’offres) et à la corruption au Québec. La combinaison de ces méthodes permet d’évaluer la nature intégrée, historique et spatiale des délinquances recensées au sein de diverses municipalités, avec des indicateurs de collusion qui remontent aussi loin qu’à la création de la municipalité lavalloise dans les années 1960. Dans l’étude de la réaction sociale, un modèle d’analyse intégratif emprunté au domaine de la sociologie de l’action publique (Lascoumes et LeGalès, 2012) est utilisé pour mettre en relief les forces structurelles, organisationnelles et individuelles derrière la constitution du scandale québécois. Cette deuxième grande section de la thèse illustre comment ce scandale s’insère dans des tendances nationales et internationales d’intolérance accrue du public et d’intensification des contrôles à l’égard des actes criminels (corruption, collusion, pots-de-vin, fraude) révélés au coeur du scandale. Enfin, dans l’étude du contrôle social, l’analyse des témoignages issus des audiences de la CEIC est jumelée aux données découlant d’entretiens semi-directifs réalisés avec 22 acteurs provenant d’agences de contrôle créées à la suite du scandale : l’Unité permanente anticorruption (UPAC), le Bureau de l’inspecteur général (BIG) de la ville de Montréal, et le Bureau d’intégrité et d’éthique de Laval (BIEL). Cette dernière section illustre comment la transition d’une scène réglementaire permissive et hautement déficiente à un environnement réglementaire axée sur une mobilisation sans précédent de ressources policières, sur le partage d’information et sur la poursuite des conduites illégales au pénal s’avère très avantageuse, mais s’est accomplie – et s’accomplit toujours – à travers de nombreux défis pour les contrôleurs. / The research originated from a political scandal which spanned several years (2009-2015) in the province of Quebec. The thesis’ main argument is that the scandal years saw Quebec transformed from being considered the “historical golden land” of Canadian corruption into a province which developed one of the country’s most sophisticated systems of corruption and white-collar crime control. The thesis was constructed as a case-study, and addressed the three principal objects of criminological analysis: the breaking of laws, the making of laws, and the reaction to the breaking of laws (Sutherland and Cressey, 1947, p.1). The study applied multiple methods to achieve these goals. In the study of criminal decision-making (breaking of laws), Kramer and Michalowski’s (2006) state-corporate crime concept was applied to demonstrate the presence of multifactorial features of criminal systems fuelled by misbehaving at the intersection of private and public interests. Such conspiracies were found to be generalized across several municipalities throughout the province. For this portion of the thesis, data on all construction contracts awarded through public procurement in the entire history of what appeared to be one of Canada’s most corrupt municipalities, Laval (the 13th largest in the country), was systematically collected from 1965 to 2013. It was then analyzed using various social network measures. Testimonies from Quebec’s Commission of inquiry on the awarding and management of public contracts in the construction industry (hereafter, CEIC) were also coupled with a dozen of interviews conducted with regulators and corruption authorities in Quebec. The combination of methods helped assess the integrated, spatial and historical nature of illicit activities which undergirded many municipalities, Laval being one of the most notorious one. Traces of bid-rigging indicators in public procurement were indeed traced back to as early as the city’s founding in the 1960s. In the study of the making of laws, Lascoumes and Le Galès’ (2002) sociology of public action framework was expanded to investigate the structural, organizational, and individual forces behind the Quebec scandal. This section of the thesis unravels the sudden urge to legislate and investigate schemes that were deeply rooted in the province’s history. By making sense of the Quebec scandal, this sub-section demonstrates how larger structural and contextual factors gradually established increased incentives for elected officials to enhance legal and institutional controls on white-collar and corporate crimes which were found to be systemic across Quebec’s construction and political scenes. Finally, in the study of the reaction to the breaking of laws, testimonies from the CEIC were combined with interviews conducted with 22 actors in control agencies established as a direct result of the scandal: the Permanent Anticorruption Unit (UPAC in French), the Inspector General Bureau (BIG in French) of the city of Montreal, and the Bureau of integrity and ethics of Laval (BIEL in French). This last section shows how transitioning from a state of practical passivity to one of intense controls, monitoring, institutional rearrangements, and legislative efforts was accompanied, for regulatory and police authorities, by several benefits but substantial challenges as well.