Problems of Public, Private, and NGO Relations Dicussed at HSE Perm

The 2nd international research seminar ‘Public-Private Interaction: Design and Deliberation’ has taken place at the HSE campus in Perm. The seminar was organized as part of a research project focusing on public-private interaction, headed by Professor Paola Valbonesi.

This year, the seminar presented the results of research in two key areas, public procurement, and non-profit organizations.

The first day was dedicated to issues relating to public procurement. Barbara Morton, the keynote speaker, one of the world’s most authoritative experts on sustainable and eco-friendly procurement, delivered a lecture entitled ‘Delivering Economic, Social and Environmental Outcomes Through Public Procurement’, in which she spoke about sustainable procurement (i.e. procurement, which, in addition to economic efficiency, takes into account issues such as the environment and social impact) and its impact on both economic development and society more broadly.

Elena Shadrina, Leading Research Fellow at the HSE Campus in Perm Centre for Private-Public Interactions, continued this theme in her presentation, and spoke about a study looking at the factors impeding and promoting the adoption of eco-friendly procurement in Russia. This study was carried out jointly with Dmitry Vinogradov from the University of Essex and was based on a survey of public purchasers in 15 Russian regions.

The presentation by Laura Rondi, Professor at the Polytechnic University of Turin, considered the problem of selecting the best approach to interaction for suppliers involved in joint implementation of public contracts. Her study was carried out together with Paola Valbonesi from the University of Padua. The authors came up with the idea of this research during the first research seminar on public-private interaction in 2015.

Andrey Tkachenko, Research Fellow at the HSE Institute for Industrial and Market Studies, unveiled results of a study into the search for resources for public procurement.

Paola Valbonesi, Professor at the University of Padua and visiting professor at HSE, presented her research into problem around support for small and medium-sized businesses via public procurement mechanisms. This research was carried out together with Elena Shadrina and Ekaterina Oparina, researchers from the Centre for Private-Public Interactions.

The theme of public procurement was continued by Johann Robin, doctoral student at the Sorbonne University in Paris. His research, co-authored with E. Reinaud and K. Staropoli, looks at the problem of political factors in local governments’ choice of forms for public procurement.

Maria Ostrovnaya, Junior Research Fellow at the HSE Center for Institutional Studies, closed the topic of public procurement with her presentation, in which she discussed a study carried out with Elena Podkolzina (HSE) on manipulations in online auctions for car fuel procurement.

Most of the second day was dedicated to various aspects of social institutions’ and non-profit organizations’ operations.

The second keynote speaker, Carlo Borzaga, Professor at the University of Trento (Italy) and acknowledged expert in social entrepreneurship, spoke on ‘Social Enterprises: International Experiences, Public Policies and Open Issues’. He shared his insights on social enterprises’ evolution and their role in solving social problems, as well as their interaction with the public sector.

Irina Krasnopolskaya, Research Fellow at the Laboratory for Nonprofit Sector Studies at the Center for Studies of Civil Society and the Nonprofit Sector, spoke about a study co-authored with Yulia Skokova (HSE) and investigating the government programme to support socially-oriented non-profit organizations at a local level. Irina Krasnopolskaya also shared some details from her examination of the role non-profit organizations play in innovation development.

Anastasiya Bozhya-Volya, Senior Research Fellow at the HSE Centre for Private-Public Interactions in Perm, presented a study on cooperation between territorial self-government bodies and the state in delivering public services.

Svetlana Suslova, Senior Research Fellow at the HSE Centre for Private-Public Interactions, presented a comparative analysis of factors impacting the creation of non-profit organizations and territorial self-government bodies, carried out with Sarah B. Spencer, Ester Shvartszaid, and Anastasiya Bozhya-Volya.

Closing the seminar, Sarah B. Spencer, Assistant Professor at HSE Perm, told the audience about her study into citizens’ role in public-private interaction. This study was carried out jointly with Irina Skalaban (State Technical University of Novosibirsk).

During the seminar the participants actively exchanged questions and comments, received valuable advice, and discussed new directions for further research.