Osäkert (upp)handlingsutrymme - om implementering av sociala hänsyn i offentlig upphandling

Sammanfattning: Social considerations in public procurement concerns the using of public procurement as a tool in order to achieve political goals of a social nature, such as to reduce unemployment, to ensure a safe and healthy work environment or to combat discrimination. This is potentially a controversial issue since it might come into conflict with public procurement legislation. But the laws concerning this area are ambiguous; hence there is some uncertainty as to when and how social considerations are allowed. This master’s thesis investigates how this ambiguous policy is turned into practice in local procurement activities. By interviewing public procurement officials I describe the implementation of social considerations in three Swedish municipals: Malmö, Gothenburg and Botkyrka. It is assumed, in implementation theory in general and regarding social considerations in particular, that ambiguous policy makes implementation more difficult. I argue that in the case of these three municipals, ambiguity has rather been a prerequisite that an obstacle for the implementation process. It has allowed procurement officials to shape the policy to local conditions and priorities. As such, the concept of social considerations in public procurement has been gradually filled with meaning during the implementation process.