IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v11y2019i22p6388-d286657.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Sustainable Public Procurement: From Law to Practice

Author

Listed:
  • Javier Mendoza Jiménez

    (Department of Applied Economics and Quantitative Methods, Faculty of Economics, Business and Tourism, Universidad de La Laguna, Camino de la Hornera s/n, 38200 San Cristóbal de La Laguna, Spain
    Escuela Universitaria Iriarte, Paseo Santo Tomás, s/n, 38400 Puerto de la Cruz, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain)

  • Montserrat Hernández López

    (Department of Applied Economics and Quantitative Methods, Faculty of Economics, Business and Tourism, Universidad de La Laguna, Camino de la Hornera s/n, 38200 San Cristóbal de La Laguna, Spain)

  • Susana Eva Franco Escobar

    (Department of Basic Law Disciplines, Faculty of Law, Universidad de La Laguna, Camino de la Hornera 37, 38200, San Cristóbal de La Laguna, Spain)

Abstract

This study aims to propose actions to improve the implementation of sustainable public procurement by identifying the problems perceived by public servants and social economy entities. Two types of questionnaires were sent to organizations in Spain and Europe and 217 complete answers were received (152 from the public sector and 65 from the social entities). In addition, 20 semi-structured personal interviews were conducted by phone with managers of social enterprises and four interviews, also by phone, were carried out with relevant people from the public sector. The results of the surveys and the interviews were structured using the analysis of the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT), which was considered consistent with the strategic nature of public procurement. The perceived opportunities for the public sector focus on more efficient use of public resources and improvement of reputation and social equality. For the social entities, more participation in procurement could lead to less dependency on public funds and more visibility. The obstacles for the public sector are related to lack of training and internal resistance to change, as well as, in the case of social entities, to their small size and the tensions with their social object that might derive from bigger competition. The proposed activities focus on two objectives, more training to increase knowledge from the public sector and the readiness of social entities. It is concluded that it is necessary to establish channels of communications between the two groups to avoid possible inefficiencies.

Suggested Citation

  • Javier Mendoza Jiménez & Montserrat Hernández López & Susana Eva Franco Escobar, 2019. "Sustainable Public Procurement: From Law to Practice," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(22), pages 1-23, November.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:11:y:2019:i:22:p:6388-:d:286657
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/11/22/6388/pdf
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/11/22/6388/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Wang, Qiang & Li, Rongrong, 2016. "Impact of cheaper oil on economic system and climate change: A SWOT analysis," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 925-931.
    2. Ramon Bernal & Leire San-Jose & Jose Luis Retolaza, 2019. "Improvement Actions for a More Social and Sustainable Public Procurement: A Delphi Analysis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(15), pages 1-15, July.
    3. Kurttila, Mikko & Pesonen, Mauno & Kangas, Jyrki & Kajanus, Miika, 2000. "Utilizing the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) in SWOT analysis -- a hybrid method and its application to a forest-certification case," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 1(1), pages 41-52, May.
    4. Georghiou, Luke & Edler, Jakob & Uyarra, Elvira & Yeow, Jillian, 2014. "Policy instruments for public procurement of innovation: Choice, design and assessment," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 86(C), pages 1-12.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Takuro Miyamoto & Naonari Yajima & Takahiro Tsukahara & Toshi H. Arimura, 2020. "Advancement of Green Public Purchasing by Category: Do Municipality Green Purchasing Policies Have Any Role in Japan?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(21), pages 1-24, October.
    2. Larraitz Lazkano & Ana Beraza, 2019. "Social Accounting for Sustainability: A Study in the Social Economy," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(24), pages 1-12, December.
    3. José Luis Fuentes-Bargues & Mª José Bastante-Ceca & Pablo Sebastián Ferrer-Gisbert & Mª Carmen González-Cruz, 2020. "Analysis of the Situation of Social Public Procurement of Works at the Valencian Region (Spain)," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(1), pages 1-23, December.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Mingshun Zhang & Li Zhang & Meine Pieter van Dijk, 2022. "Managing Sustainable Public Procurement: A Nationwide Survey in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(19), pages 1-19, September.
    2. Jose Torres-Pruñonosa & Miquel Angel Plaza-Navas & Francisco Díez-Martín & Albert Beltran-Cangrós, 2021. "The Intellectual Structure of Social and Sustainable Public Procurement Research: A Co-Citation Analysis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(2), pages 1-33, January.
    3. Bilgili, Faik & Mugaloglu, Erhan & Koçak, Emrah, 2018. "The impact of oil prices on CO2 emissions in China: A Wavelet coherence approach," MPRA Paper 90170, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    4. Nermin Kişi, 2019. "A Strategic Approach to Sustainable Tourism Development Using the A’WOT Hybrid Method: A Case Study of Zonguldak, Turkey," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(4), pages 1-19, February.
    5. Liotard, Isabelle & Revest, Valérie, 2018. "Contests as innovation policy instruments: Lessons from the US federal agencies' experience," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 127(C), pages 57-69.
    6. Jeongae You & Woosuk Kim & Hyun-Suk Lee & Minjung Kwon, 2021. "Best Content Standards in Sports Career Education for Adolescents: A Delphi Survey of Korean Professional Views," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(12), pages 1-13, June.
    7. Ghisetti, Claudia, 2017. "Demand-pull and environmental innovations: Estimating the effects of innovative public procurement," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 125(C), pages 178-187.
    8. Madjid Tavana & Mariya Sodenkamp & Leena Suhl, 2010. "A soft multi-criteria decision analysis model with application to the European Union enlargement," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 181(1), pages 393-421, December.
    9. Gözaçan Nazlıcan & Lafci Çisem, 2020. "Evaluation of Key Performance Indicators of Logistics Firms," Logistics, Supply Chain, Sustainability and Global Challenges, Sciendo, vol. 11(1), pages 24-32, February.
    10. Sofia Dahlgren & Jonas Ammenberg, 2021. "Sustainability Assessment of Public Transport, Part II—Applying a Multi-Criteria Assessment Method to Compare Different Bus Technologies," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(3), pages 1-30, January.
    11. Ho, William, 2008. "Integrated analytic hierarchy process and its applications - A literature review," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 186(1), pages 211-228, April.
    12. Sabina Kordana-Obuch & Michał Wojtoń & Mariusz Starzec & Beata Piotrowska, 2023. "Opportunities and Challenges for Research on Heat Recovery from Wastewater: Bibliometric and Strategic Analyses," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(17), pages 1-36, September.
    13. Jolien Grandia & Dylan Voncken, 2019. "Sustainable Public Procurement: The Impact of Ability, Motivation, and Opportunity on the Implementation of Different Types of Sustainable Public Procurement," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(19), pages 1-17, September.
    14. Philippe Laredo, 2016. "Innovation policies: the national and regional dimensions," Economia e Politica Industriale: Journal of Industrial and Business Economics, Springer;Associazione Amici di Economia e Politica Industriale, vol. 43(3), pages 323-330, September.
    15. Elizabeth Gibson & Tugrul Daim & Edwin Garces & Marina Dabic, 2018. "Technology Foresight: A Bibliometric Analysis to Identify Leading and Emerging Methods," Foresight and STI Governance (Foresight-Russia till No. 3/2015), National Research University Higher School of Economics, vol. 12(1), pages 6-24.
    16. Xiangnan Fan & Yuning Cheng & Fangqi Tan & Tianyi Zhao, 2022. "Construction and Optimization of the Ecological Security Pattern in Liyang, China," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(10), pages 1-28, September.
    17. Yang Yi & Chen Zhang & Jinqi Zhu & Yugang Zhang & Hao Sun & Hongzhang Kang, 2022. "Spatio-Temporal Evolution, Prediction and Optimization of LUCC Based on CA-Markov and InVEST Models: A Case Study of Mentougou District, Beijing," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(4), pages 1-23, February.
    18. Martin Warland, 2016. "What kinds of regional innovation systems occur around federal agencies?," Diskussionsschriften credresearchpaper10, Universitaet Bern, Departement Volkswirtschaft - CRED.
    19. Wang, Naijiang & Bao, Yeqing, 2011. "Modeling forest quality at stand level: A case study of loess plateau in China," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 13(6), pages 488-495, July.
    20. Noszczyk, Tomasz & Gorzelany, Julia & Kukulska-Kozieł, Anita & Hernik, Józef, 2022. "The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the importance of urban green spaces to the public," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 113(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:11:y:2019:i:22:p:6388-:d:286657. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.