Code of Ethics for Municipal Public Procurement as an Instrument of Governance and Institutional Sustainability in Ecuador

Abstract

Introduction: The absence of a specialized code of ethics for municipal public procurement in Ecuador increases administrative discretion, limits transparency, and weakens the institutional sustainability of contractual processes in Decentralized Autonomous Municipal Governments. Materials and methods: The study used a mixed-methods approach with a descriptive, analytical, and propositional scope, and a non-experimental, cross-sectional design. Surveys were administered to 186 municipal public servants, and structured interviews were conducted with 14 institutional actors involved in public procurement. Theoretical (analytical-synthetic, historical-logical) and empirical (systematic literature review, document analysis, case studies) methods were employed. Results: 57.53% of respondents indicated a lack of specialized ethical guidelines; 72.58% considered that the absence of ethical regulations increases administrative discretion; 80.64% stated that a code of ethics would strengthen contractual transparency. The interviews confirmed an institutional consensus regarding structural weaknesses in public integrity. A Model Code of Ethics for Municipal Public Procurement was designed, structured around four components: a regulatory framework for contractual integrity, a preventive system for ethical risks, a system for ethical supervision and control, and organizational training and culture. Validation by a technical committee achieved average scores above 4.07/5, highlighting its potential to strengthen transparency and integrity (4.79/5). Discussion: The findings confirm that public ethics constitutes a structural component of transparency and institutional sustainability, coinciding with the OECD's theory of public integrity and the literature on institutional accountability. Conclusions: The implementation of a specialized code of ethics is an ideal institutional tool for strengthening ethical governance, reducing the risk of opacity, and consolidating the sustainability of municipal public procurement in Ecuador.