On suspicious tracks: machine-learning based approaches to detect cartels in railway-infrastructure procurement
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24 avril 2023
- 2304.11888
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Economics - General EconomicsSujets proches
Economic theory Political economyCiter ce document
Hannes Wallimann et al., « On suspicious tracks: machine-learning based approaches to detect cartels in railway-infrastructure procurement », arXiv - économie
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Résumé
In railway infrastructure, construction and maintenance is typically procured using competitive procedures such as auctions. However, these procedures only fulfill their purpose - using (taxpayers') money efficiently - if bidders do not collude. Employing a unique dataset of the Swiss Federal Railways, we present two methods in order to detect potential collusion: First, we apply machine learning to screen tender databases for suspicious patterns. Second, we establish a novel category-managers' tool, which allows for sequential and decentralized screening. To the best of our knowledge, we pioneer illustrating the adaption and application of machine-learning based price screens to a railway-infrastructure market.