Overcoming the barriers to green procurement in the county: Interest groups and administrative professionalism
| Pages | 259-285 |
| Published date | 01 March 2016 |
| Date | 01 March 2016 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/JOPP-16-03-2016-B001 |
| Author | Christy Smith,Jessica Terman |
| Subject Matter | Public policy & environmental management,Politics,Public adminstration & management,Government,Economics,Public Finance/economics,Texation/public revenue |
JOURNAL OF PUBLIC PROCUREMENT, VOLUME 16, ISSUE 3, 259-285 FALL 2016
OVERCOMING THE BARRIERS TO GREEN PROCUREMENT
IN THE COUNTY: INTEREST GROUPS AND
ADMINISTRATIVE PROFESSIONALISM
Christy Smith and Jessica Terman*
ABSTRACT. Scholars and practitioners have come to understand the
important role of local governments in the causes and effects of climate
change. The literature has examined both the subs tantive and symbolic
determinants of urban sustainability policies in addition to the
implementation issues associated with those policies. At the heart of these
policies is the idea that local governments have the desire and ability to
engage in socially and environmentally responsible practices to mitigate
climate change. While important, these studies are missing a key component
in the investigation of local government involvement in sustainability policies:
government purchasing power. This st udy examines the effect of
administrative professionalism and interest group presenc e on the
determinants of green procurement in the understudied context of counties
in the United States.
INTRODUCTION
Scholars and practitioners have come to understand the important
role of local governments in the causes and effects of climate change
(Sharp, Daley, & Lynch, 2010). The literature has examined both the
substantive and symbolic determinants of urban sustainability policies
in addition to the implementation issues associated with those policies
(Hawkins, Krause, Feiock, & Curley 2014; Terman & Feiock, 2014). At
the heart of these policies is the idea that local governments have the
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* Christy Smith, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor of Public Administration,
University of New Haven. Her teaching and research interests are in
management, procurement, and sustainability. Jessica Terman, Ph.D., is an
Assistant Professor, School of Policy, Government, and International Affairs,
George Mason University, Fairfax, Virginia. Her teaching and research
interests are in federalism, energy policy, and state regulation.
Copyright © 2016 by Pracademics Press
260 SMITH & TERMAN
desire and ability to engage in socially and environmentally responsible
practices to mitigate climate change. While crucially important, these
studies are missing a key component in the investigation of local
government involvement in sustainability policies: public procurement.
Through their purchase of public goods and services, local
governments have the ability to change market practices by mandating
the use of products and services that have a reduced effect on human
health and the environment. However, at odds with the adoption of
some of these policies are concerns from administrative professionals
about the cost of “going green” (Coggburn, 2004) and the pressure
brought by interest groups and manufacturers of “brown” industries
that have traditionally been the providers of public goods and services
(Plas and Erdmenger, 2000). This study examines the effect of
administrative professionalism and interest group presence on the
determinants of green procurement in the understudied context of
counties in the United States.
We find that counties with heightened administrative
professionalism in both sustainability and more generally will be more
likely to adopt green procurement practices. This suggests that,
contrary to previous research on green procurement (NACo, 2012),
some governments are beginning to perceive green products as
feasible options for public purchase and consumption. Furthermore,
this supports extant research underscoring the policy choices of
governments with professional management structures (Bae and
Feiock, 2013). While we do not find evidence that the heightened
presence of green or brown industries affects green procurement
adoption, we do find that the heightened presence of environmental
advocacy groups has a positive influence on the adoption of green
procurement practices. This is supported by the literature on local
government sustainability policy, which asserts that interest group
demands influence resource allocation and the prioritization of local
government policy (Hawkins et al., 2015).
In the first section, we define and provide a review of the
contemporary literature on green procurement and place it within the
larger context of local sustainability policy. We close the literature
review with a brief discussion of the understudied context of county
governments and the role that they can play in advancing green
procurement practices. Theory and hypotheses linking interest group
presence and administrative professionalism to green procurement
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