Quality, Qualifications, and the Market: Procuring Interpretation Services in the Context of the ‘Refugee Crisis’

Katharina Sarter, Lena Karamanidou

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    9 Downloads (Pure)

    Abstract

    Contracting of services has become increasingly important over the last few decades. Against this background, public contracts play an indispensable role in setting standards for services as well as in the regulation of labour. This article explores public tendering strategies for a specific service, interpretation in the context of asylum and international protection. Based on an empirical study of tendering strategies of two public agencies in Greece, it analyses core issues related to working conditions and service quality, namely, the importance given to the price and the use of stipulations relating to working conditions and qualifications. The findings reveal that even under high budgetary constraints, individual agencies may seek to strategically counteract a price‐driven competition and point to the importance of the structure of the market as an external constraint.
    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)493-507
    Number of pages15
    JournalSocial Policy & Administration
    Volume53
    Issue number3
    Early online date9 Dec 2018
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - May 2019

    Keywords

    • administration
    • employment
    • market
    • public contracting
    • quality
    • services

    Fingerprint

    Dive into the research topics of 'Quality, Qualifications, and the Market: Procuring Interpretation Services in the Context of the ‘Refugee Crisis’'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

    Cite this