The influence of the status quo bias theory in the compliance to public procurement regulations in a Sub-Saharan economy

Abstract

The importance of public procurement cannot be overemphasised, as this is a tool for achieving efficiency and value in acquisition of goods, works and services. Public sector bodies are required to conduct public procurement according to public procurement law. However, user resistance to the compliance of the procurement regulations have been reported in extant literature. Yet, there is lack of research on understanding users' non-compliance of public procurement laws, especially in sub-Saharan Africa nations such as Ghana. This study uses the status quo bias (SQB) theory to investigate why users fail to comply with the public procurement regulations in a Sub-Saharan nation. We collected data from 84 public sector institutions in Ghana and ordinary least square (OLS) regression was used to analyse the measurement and structural models. Three (3) out of the seven (7) hypothesis developed were supported. We offer theoretical and managerial implications.