Contenuto in:
Capitolo

Assessing the effects of Italy’s public procurement reform on corruption risk: An interrupted time series approach

  • Maria Claudia Filippone
  • Michela Gnaldi
  • Simone Del Sarto

In the last decade, red flag indicators have become central to corruption risk monitoring in public procurement. In Italy, the National Anti-Corruption Authority (ANAC) has promoted their use through a set of indicators designed to detect anomalies in procurement procedures. While their use is increasingly widespread in ex-post risk assessment, their potential to capture systemic effects of regulatory changes remains underexplored.  This paper proposes the use of red flag indicators to evaluate systemic impacts of policy reforms. Specifically, it analyzes behavioural shifts among contracting authorities following the July 2023 entry into force of the new Italian Public Procurement Code. While the reform emphasises simplification and a results-oriented approach to enhance efficiency, it also raises concerns about potential trade-offs in terms of transparency and competition.  The study draws on a longitudinal dataset covering all public contracts awarded in Italy since 2018, with daily granularity. Methodologically, it adopts a multilevel Interrupted Time Series framework implemented through Generalised Linear Mixed Models to detect systematic shifts in corruption-related risk patterns, proxied by selected red flags, following the reform, while accounting for temporal dynamics and heterogeneity across contracting authorities.  By integrating red flag indicators with robust statistical modelling, the paper advances a methodological shift: from static monitoring tools to dynamic evaluative instruments. This approach strengthens the evidence base for real-time policy assessment and supports more adaptive, data-driven governance in the public sector.

  • Keywords:
  • Public procurement,
  • Corruption risk,
  • Policy evaluation,
  • Mixed-effects modeling,
  • Longitudinal Analysis,
+ Mostra di più

Maria Claudia Filippone

University of Perugia, Italy

Michela Gnaldi

University of Perugia, Italy - ORCID: 0000-0002-2785-3279

Simone Del Sarto

University of Perugia, Italy - ORCID: 0000-0003-1102-2881

  1. Adam, I., Fazekas, M. (2018). Are emerging technologies helping win the fight against corruption in developing countries? Pathways for Prosperity Commission Background Paper Series, no. 21. Oxford (UK). DOI: 10.1016/j.infoecopol.2021.100950
  2. Akaike, H. (1973). Information theory and an extension of the maximum likelihood principle. In: Second International Symposium on Information Theory, Akademinai Kiado, pp 267–281. DOI: 10.1007/978-1-4612-1694-0_15
  3. Fazekas, M., Tóth, B., Cingolani, L. (2016). A Comprehensive Review of Objective Corruption Proxies in Public Procurement: Risky Actors, Transactions, and Vehicles of Rent Extraction, Budapest: Government Transparency Institute. DOI: 10.2139/ssrn.2891017
  4. Gnaldi, M., Del Sarto, S., Falcone, M., Troía, M. (2021). Measuring corruption. In E. Carloni, M. Gnaldi (Eds.), Understanding and Fighting Corruption in Europe: From Repression to Prevention, Springer, pp. 43–71. DOI: 10.1007/978-3-030-82495-2_4
  5. Klašnja, M. (2015). Corruption and the incumbency disadvantage: Theory and evidence. The Journal of Politics, 77(4), pp. 928–942. DOI: 10.1086/682913
  6. Linden, A. (2015). Conducting interrupted time-series analysis for single and multiple group comparisons. The Stata Journal, 15(2), pp. 480–500. DOI: 10.1177/1536867x1501500208
  7. OECD (2025). Implementing the OECD Recommendation on Public Procurement in OECD and Partner Countries: 2020-2024 Report. OECD Publishing. DOI: 10.1787/02a46a58-en
  8. Rodríguez, G. (2008). Multilevel generalized linear models. In J. de Leeuw, E. Meijer (eds.), Handbook of Multilevel Analysis, Springer, pp. 335–376. DOI: 10.1007/978-0-387-73186-5_9
  9. Schwarz, G. (1978). Estimating the dimension of a model. The Annals of Statistics, 6(2), pp. 461–464. DOI: 10.1214/aos/1176344136
PDF
  • Anno di pubblicazione: 2026
  • Pagine: 213-218

XML
  • Anno di pubblicazione: 2026

Informazioni sul capitolo

Titolo del capitolo

Assessing the effects of Italy’s public procurement reform on corruption risk: An interrupted time series approach

Autori

Maria Claudia Filippone, Michela Gnaldi, Simone Del Sarto

Lingua

Inglese

DOI

10.36253/979-12-215-1062-1.38

Opera sottoposta a peer review

Anno di pubblicazione

2026

Copyright

© 2026 Author(s)

Licenza d'uso

CC BY 4.0

Licenza dei metadati

CC0 1.0

Informazioni bibliografiche

Titolo del libro

Data, Statistics and AI for Well-Being of People and Organisations

Curatori

Luigi Fabbris, Alberto Franci, Pietro Renzi

Opera sottoposta a peer review

Numero di pagine

420

Anno di pubblicazione

2026

Copyright

© 2026 Author(s)

Licenza d'uso

CC BY 4.0

Licenza dei metadati

CC0 1.0

Editore

Firenze University Press

DOI

10.36253/979-12-215-1062-1

ISBN Print

979-12-215-1061-4

eISBN (pdf)

979-12-215-1062-1

eISBN (xml)

979-12-215-1063-8

Collana

Applied Statistics Series

0

Download dei libri

0

Visualizzazioni

Salva la citazione

1.528

Libri in accesso aperto

in catalogo

3.744

Capitoli di Libri

6.674.567

Download dei libri

5.994

Autori

da 1219 Istituzioni e centri di ricerca

di 67 Nazioni

83

scientific boards

da 416 Istituzioni e centri di ricerca

di 46 Nazioni

1.439

I referee

da 400 Istituzioni e centri di ricerca

di 41 Nazioni