Public Procurement Policy Compliance, Corruption Risk, and Value-for-Money in Ghana's Infrastructure Sector: An Institutional Analysis
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.47941/ijppa.4064Keywords:
Public Procurement; Policy Compliance; Corruption Risk; Value-for-Money; Infrastructure; Ghana; Institutional Theory; Principal-Agent Theory; Public Sector Governance.Abstract
Purpose: This paper examines how compliance or non-compliance with public procurement policy shapes corruption risk and infrastructure project outcomes (value for money) across selected ministries, departments, and agencies (MDAs) in Ghana.
Methodology: The study adopted a convergent mixed-methods design. The target population comprised Ghanaian ministries, departments, and agencies (MDAs) with substantial infrastructure procurement portfolios; ten MDAs were purposively sampled, and 120 infrastructure projects were analyzed using Public Procurement Authority (PPA) compliance assessments (2019–2021), Ghana Audit Service reports (2019–2022), and Public Expenditure and Financial Accountability (PEFA) indicators. Qualitative data were collected through semi-structured interviews with 32 key informants (procurement officers, internal audit directors, PPA compliance officers, and Ghana Audit Service auditors). Quantitative data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation, and hierarchical regression with moderation, while interview data were analyzed thematically.
Findings: Low compliance with competitive tendering procedures, documentation requirements, and post-award monitoring was strongly associated with higher exposure to corruption risk and diminished value for money in infrastructure delivery. Institutional oversight strength significantly moderated the compliance–corruption relationship, and procurement officer capacity was independently associated with lower corruption risk.
Unique contribution to theory, practice and policy: Theoretically, the study integrates Principal-Agent, Institutional, and Public Choice perspectives to explain how compliance behaviour relates to corruption risk, and it examines the moderating role of institutional oversight and the independent role of procurement officer capacity in a developing-country setting. For practice, it identifies which compliance lapses (tendering, documentation, and post-award monitoring) are most strongly associated with corruption risk and highlights the importance of procurement capacity and oversight. For policy, it offers evidence-based recommendations to strengthen Ghana's procurement governance architecture and contributes to the literature on the effectiveness of anti-corruption policy in developing-country infrastructure delivery.
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Copyright (c) 2026 Racheal Amoah, Kofi Agyemang Gyan-Tutu, James Narh Ayertey, Dominic Addo-Fordwuor
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