Public Procurement Use of Sustainability Criteria

Abstract

Background: Public institutions increasingly manage responsibilities connected with green procurement, but the quality of implementation can vary markedly across organizations and jurisdictions.

Objective: We investigated the implementation of arrangements concerning green procurement and identified organizational and regulatory factors linked to policy effectiveness and sustainability.

Methods: An original dataset of 7,965 administrative, contractual, case-level, or transaction records from 15 public bodies was examined. Variables represented timing, procedural steps, organizational characteristics, and outcomes, with fixed-effects, multivariable, or survival-type modelling applied to match the data structure.

Results: Across participating institutions, outcomes for green procurement varied considerably. Better-coordinated units with clearer procedures performed approximately 26% better on the main outcome, with administrative capacity accounting for an estimated 42% of cross-unit variation. Poorer performance clustered where oversight was fragmented and information-sharing was incomplete.

Conclusion: Taken together, the results indicate that outcomes related to green procurement are shaped by operational governance as well as formal rules. Accordingly, procurement reform should prioritize traceable processes, coordinated oversight, and implementation capacity.

Study design: contract-level content analysis.

Publication history: Originally published in print on 15 June 2023, Volume 3, Article 12. Online abstract record added on 16 September 2026. Full-text PDF will be added when the digital galley is ready.