Putting your money where your mouth is: green procurement as a form of sustainability
| Published date | 03 September 2018 |
| Pages | 202-216 |
| Date | 03 September 2018 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/JOPP-09-2018-013 |
| Author | Jessica Terman,Christy Smith |
| Subject Matter | Public policy & environmental management,Politics,Public adminstration & management,Government,Economics,Public finance/economics,Taxation/public revenue |
Putting your money where your
mouth is: green procurement as a
form of sustainability
Jessica Terman
Schar School of Policy and Government,
George Mason University, Fairfax, Virginia, USA, and
Christy Smith
Henry C. Lee College of Criminal Justice and Forensic Science,
University of New Haven, West Haven, Connecticut
Abstract
Purpose –There is a robust and growing literature on the adoption of sustainability policies in US local
governments. Scholars have examined locality involvement in climate protection networks, sustainability
policy adoption and the allocationof resources for sustainability-oriented responsibilities.While a significant
body of literature, the substantivemeaningfulness of the sustainability policies being investigatedhas varied
greatly.
Design/methodology/approach –The authors assert that governments that engage in green
procurement activities are truly putting their money where their mouth is when it comes to sustainability
policy. They ask the question of whether the traditional determinants of sustainability policy adoption
influencethe adoption of permissive and mandated green procurement policiesin local governments.
Findings –In particular, scholars have not examined one of the most significant ways that local
governments have of promoting environmentally responsible behaviors and mitigating climate change:
public procurement.
Keywords Sustainability, Green procurement
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
There is a robust and growing literatureon the adoption of sustainability policies in US local
governments. Scholars have examined locality involvement in climate protection networks
(Krause, 2011), sustainabilitypolicy adoption (Deslatte and Swann, 2015) and the allocation
of resources for sustainability-oriented responsibilities (Hawkins et al.,2015). While a
significant body of literature, the substantive meaningfulness of the sustainability policies
being investigated has varied greatly. In particular, there is little scholarship in the public
administration literatureon one of the most significant ways that local governments have of
promoting environmentally responsible behaviors and mitigating climate change: public
procurement (Lange et al., 2014;Testa,Annunziata, Iraldo, and Frey, 2016)). We assert that
governments that engage in green procurement are truly putting their money where their
mouth is when it comes to sustainability. We ask the question of whether the traditional
determinants of sustainability policyadoption influence the adoption of green procurement
policy (GPP) in local governments.
Specifically, we look at whether three factors commonly found to impact
sustainability policy adoption –general and sustainability-specific professional
JOPP
18,3
202
Journalof Public Procurement
Vol.18 No. 3, 2018
pp. 202-216
© Emerald Publishing Limited
1535-0118
DOI 10.1108/JOPP-09-2018-013
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
www.emeraldinsight.com/1535-0118.htm
To continue reading
Request your trial