Market stewarding’s design principles in public procurement: A case study reflection and systems dynamics modelling approach – providing qualitative and analytic arguments

This paper examines how market stewarding design principles, inspired by Ostrom’s design principles for managing common-pool resources can address inefficiencies in public procurement. Using case studies from the Netherlands, Slovakia, and Thailand, it identifies systemic governance issues such as information asymmetry, supplier collusion, and biased tendering. Regarding analyses, first, we reflect on Ostrom’s principles for adaptable interventions, and second, we develop a System Dynamics Model (SDM) to simulate the impact of information asymmetry for the Dutch case. Findings show that targeted interventions can stabilize markets and lower costs, providing a robust framework for enacting stewarding.