Innovationsorientierte öffentliche Beschaffung und Leitmärkte: Politische Initiativen in der EU

The present study examines whether an innovation-oriented public procurement process can contribute to the development of lead markets. It is shown that the state, as a procurer of innovative products and services, respectively, can indeed influence leading market factors. Thus, the state can, with the procurement of a particular innovative design, generate a price advantage. However, it also appears that the state either cannot, or can only marginally, influence certain lead market factors. Furthermore, it will be shown that innovation-oriented public procurement may, under certain circumstances, maximize welfare. With the additional demand from the side of the state, the diffusion of innovative products can be accelerated. The study indicates that via innovation-oriented public procurement, lock-ins and path dependencies could be avoided or even eliminated. Moreover, an innovation-centric public procurement can lead to an increase in Research & Development (R&D) expenditures by private firms. Via this channel, a stronger public demand for innovative products and services gives rise to positive employment effects. So that innovation focused public procurement can lead to the emergence or development of lead markets and an expansions of R&D, in the past number of years an increasing number of political initiatives have been launched at the supranational, national and regional levels. Thus, as will be shown in the present study, procurement law at an EU-level was reformed with the goal of strengthening the public procurement of innovative products and services. The analysis shows that the reforms to EU procurement law will definitely have a beneficial effect on the extent of public acquisition of innovative products and services. In addition, this study explores the political initiatives of both the Federal Republic of Germany and the federal German state of North Rhine-Westphalia.