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The Greener, the Better? Evidence from Government Contractors

Author

Listed:
  • Olga Chiappinelli
  • Ambrogio Dalò
  • Leonardo M. Giuffrida
  • Vitezslav Titl

Abstract

Governments support the green transition through green public procurement. Using US data, this paper provides the first empirical analysis of the causal effects of green contracts on corporate greenhouse gas emissions and economic performance. We focus on an affirmative program for sustainable products, which represents one-sixth of the total federal procurement budget, and publicly traded firms, which account for one-third of total US emissions. Our results show that securing green contracts reduces emissions relative to firm size and increases productivity. We find no evidence that the program selects greener firms, nor that green public procurement sales crowd out private sales.

Suggested Citation

  • Olga Chiappinelli & Ambrogio Dalò & Leonardo M. Giuffrida & Vitezslav Titl, 2025. "The Greener, the Better? Evidence from Government Contractors," CESifo Working Paper Series 11696, CESifo.
    • Handle: RePEc:ces:ceswps:_11696
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    File URL: https://www.cesifo.org/DocDL/cesifo1_wp11696.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    public procurement; environmental policy; firm performance; greenhouse gas emissions; R&D; recycled materials; staggered difference-in-difference;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D22 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Firm Behavior: Empirical Analysis
    • D44 - Microeconomics - - Market Structure, Pricing, and Design - - - Auctions
    • H32 - Public Economics - - Fiscal Policies and Behavior of Economic Agents - - - Firm
    • H57 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies - - - Procurement
    • Q53 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Air Pollution; Water Pollution; Noise; Hazardous Waste; Solid Waste; Recycling
    • Q54 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Climate; Natural Disasters and their Management; Global Warming
    • Q58 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Environmental Economics: Government Policy

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