E-Procurement Management in State Governments: Diffusion of E-Procurement Practices and Its Determinants

Information technology has helped solve many administrative problems in the public sector, and electronic procurement (E-procurement) has been introduced as a way to achieve better, more cost-effective procurement systems. This chapter examines the diffusion of E-procurement among state governments and suggests potential stimuli for the wider adoption of E-procurement tools. It looks at the evolution of E-procurement tools at the state level and proposes several research hypotheses. The chapter presents a survey of current trends in the adoption of individual E-procurement tools. It analyses the proposed hypotheses based on E-procurement data and other state statistics. To implement effective E-procurement, governments must cope with various technical, legal, and managerial challenges, including technical complexity, the financial burden involved in the initial investment, security issues, and relationships with vendors. When a central state procurement office exercises a high level of authority over procurement policy, it may be much easier for the state government to initiate a procurement innovation.