Transparency or Access? E‐Procurement's Two Paths to Integrity: Evidence From Italy

ABSTRACT This paper examines whether e‐procurement adoption is associated with procedural competition and transparency, two core components of procurement integrity. Using award‐level microdata for Italian regional contracting authorities (2019–2023), we analyze a period preceding the legal obligation of full‐cycle digital procurement, when the use of e‐procurement tools remained discretionary across authorities. We construct three procedure‐level indicators—notice‐to‐deadline length, single bidding, and ex‐post outcome communication—and estimate pooled OLS, Probit, and Linear Probability models with extensive controls and robustness checks. We find that e‐procurement adoption is differentially associated with these indicators across procedure types: it reduces single‐bid outcomes in non‐competitive procedures, while in competitive settings it lengthens submission periods and increases the likelihood of end‐of‐procedure communication. Although correlational, the results suggest that discretionary digitalization can reinforce procedural competition and disclosure practices through transparency and traceability gains.