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Sustainability
Special Issues
Sustainable Public Procurement: Practices and Policies
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Sustainable Public Procurement: Practices and Policies

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Economic and Business Aspects of Sustainability".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (25 July 2024) | Viewed by 2861

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Paul Davis

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Dublin City University Business School, Dublin City University, 11 Dublin, Ireland
Interests: micro enterprises; public procurement; innovation
Dr. David McKevitt

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Management & Marketing, University College Cork, T12 CY82 Cork, Ireland
Interests: procurement; project management
Dr. Clifford McCue

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Public Administration, Florida Atlantic University, 777 Glades Road, Boca Raton, FL 33431, USA
Interests: public procurement; public budgeting and finance; public policy

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

As global environmental challenges continue to escalate, sustainability has become a major focus for governments, businesses, and individuals alike. One important area of sustainability is public procurement, which refers to the purchasing of goods and services by public entities such as government agencies and municipalities.

Public procurement can play a critical role in promoting sustainability, as it accounts for a significant portion of overall consumption and has the potential to influence market demand and drive innovation in sustainable practices. By incorporating sustainability criteria into their procurement processes, public entities can reduce their environmental footprint, promote social responsibility, and support the development of a green economy.

However, implementing sustainable procurement practices can be challenging, as it requires overcoming a range of technical, financial, and organizational barriers. Additionally, the complex and fragmented nature of the public procurement landscape, with multiple stakeholders and levels of governance involved, adds an additional layer of complexity.

This academic journal seeks to explore the role of public procurement in promoting sustainability, with a particular focus on the challenges and opportunities faced by public entities in implementing sustainable procurement practices. The journal aims to bring together interdisciplinary perspectives from scholars, policymakers, and practitioners to advance understanding and provide practical guidance on sustainable procurement in the public sector.

Contributions are welcomed on a range of topics related to sustainable public procurement, including but not limited to:

  • Best practices in sustainable procurement;
  • Approaches to measuring and evaluating the sustainability impact of procurement;
  • Strategies for overcoming barriers to sustainable procurement implementation;
  • Policy frameworks and regulations to support sustainable procurement;
  • Innovative procurement models and collaborations for sustainability;
  • The role of public procurement in advancing the Sustainable Development Goals;
  • Case studies and empirical research on sustainable procurement in practice,

We hope that this journal will contribute to advancing sustainable procurement practices in the public sector, and ultimately contribute to a more sustainable future for all.

Prof. Dr. Paul Davis
Dr. David McKevitt
Dr. Clifford McCue
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • public procurement
  • sustainability
  • innovation
  • policy frameworks

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Further information on MDPI's Special Issue polices can be found here.

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

14 pages, 616 KiB  
Article
Impact of Accountability on the Economic Performance of Hospital Entities: The Moderating Role of Gender
by Cláudia Pereira, Rui Bertuzi and Armindo Lima
Sustainability 2024, 16(18), 7972; https://doi.org/10.3390/su16187972 - 12 Sep 2024
Viewed by 315
Abstract
This study examines on the association between the accountability and economic performance of Portuguese hospital entities after the entry into force of the new Public Accounting Standards, taking into account stakeholder theory, legitimacy theory, and institutional theory. Furthermore, we investigate whether accountability, underlying [...] Read more.
This study examines on the association between the accountability and economic performance of Portuguese hospital entities after the entry into force of the new Public Accounting Standards, taking into account stakeholder theory, legitimacy theory, and institutional theory. Furthermore, we investigate whether accountability, underlying procurement, and other entity operations act differently in public and private hospitals. For this purpose, we collected data for 56 Portuguese hospital entities in the period from 2018 to 2022. We conducted a quantitative analysis, testing the hypotheses using econometric regressions estimated with panel data. The results show a reduction in the return on assets for both sectors. Our evidence suggests that being a public hospital entity harms economic performance. In this sector, size and gender positively affect economic performance. Still, the level of provisions negatively affects it. In contrast, in private hospital entities, the determinants of their economic performance are the number of directors (with a negative impact) and provisions (with a positive one). These results show that when hospital entities are committed to governance structures and social responsibility, or environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors underlying sustainability strategies, they can enhance their performance. This article contributes by collecting evidence on the effect of accountability on the performance of public hospital entities, the features of which tend to be different from those of private hospital entities. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Public Procurement: Practices and Policies)
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20 pages, 1445 KiB  
Article
Procurement of Artificial Intelligence Systems in UAE Public Sectors: An Interpretive Structural Modeling of Critical Success Factors
by Khalid Alshehhi, Ali Cheaitou and Hamad Rashid
Sustainability 2024, 16(17), 7724; https://doi.org/10.3390/su16177724 - 5 Sep 2024
Viewed by 582
Abstract
This study investigates the critical success factors (CSFs) influencing the procurement of artificial intelligence (AI) systems within the United Arab Emirates (UAE) public sector. While AI holds immense potential to enhance public service delivery, its successful integration hinges on critical factors. This research [...] Read more.
This study investigates the critical success factors (CSFs) influencing the procurement of artificial intelligence (AI) systems within the United Arab Emirates (UAE) public sector. While AI holds immense potential to enhance public service delivery, its successful integration hinges on critical factors. This research utilizes Interpretive Structural Modeling (ISM) to analyze the CSFs impacting AI procurement within the UAE public sector. Through ISM, a structural model is developed to highlight the interrelationships between these CSFs and their influence on the procurement process, outlining the key elements for successful AI procurement within the UAE public sector. Based on the literature review and expert validation from the UAE public sector, ten CSFs were identified. This study found that clear needs assessment is the most influential CSF, while the long-term value of AI systems or services is the least influential. This study provides policymakers and public sector leaders with valuable insights, enabling them to formulate effective strategies to optimize the procurement process and establish a strong foundation for AI adoption. Finally, this will lead to an improved and more efficient public service delivery in the UAE. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Public Procurement: Practices and Policies)
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15 pages, 916 KiB  
Article
Ghosts in the Machine: How Big Data Analytics Can Be Used to Strengthen Online Public Procurement Accountability
by Mihai-Răzvan Sanda, Marian-Ilie Siminică, Costin-Daniel Avram and Luminița Popescu
Sustainability 2024, 16(9), 3698; https://doi.org/10.3390/su16093698 - 28 Apr 2024
Viewed by 1002
Abstract
The core of sustainable public procurement lies in its ability to stem uneconomical public expenditures that waste taxpayer money and stifle social trust and development. The external audit of public procurement proves problematic since current research fails to provide sufficient empirical studies aimed [...] Read more.
The core of sustainable public procurement lies in its ability to stem uneconomical public expenditures that waste taxpayer money and stifle social trust and development. The external audit of public procurement proves problematic since current research fails to provide sufficient empirical studies aimed at identifying procurement fraud. The development of online portals with embedded e-procurement solutions, along with the big data revolution, open new horizons and allow us to reveal trends otherwise impossible to spot, such as transactions achieved in an exclusive commercial relationship, in which a vendor engages only with a single public entity. By using innovative data acquisition techniques, our research encompasses 2.25 million online direct public procurement procedures conducted in 2023 using the Romanian portal for public procurement, totaling EUR 3.22 billion. By aggregating databases obtained from various public sources, our analysis achieved remarkable granularity, using over 112 million data elements—50 pertaining to each transaction. Research results indicate a unique sub-population of public procurement procedures—those conducted with “in-house” vendors totaling 14.28% of all direct public acquisitions and which is significantly differentiated along the entire list of analyzed criteria—financial, geographical, statistical, or risk-wise—illustrating a troubling phenomenon: possible gerrymandering of the online public procurement landscape, which, at least in theory, resembles a perfect market, by cultivating preferential commercial relations, thus affecting the legality, regularity, and economical aspects of public procurement. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Public Procurement: Practices and Policies)
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