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Examining the Relationship between the Economic Performance of Technology-Based Small Suppliers and Socially Sustainable Procurement

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  • Youngbok Ryu

    (College of Professional Studies, Northeastern University, 360 Huntington Ave, Boston, MA 02115, USA)

  • Toshiyuki Sueyoshi

    (Department of Management, New Mexico Institute of Mining & Technology, 801 Leroy Place, Socorro, NM 87801, USA
    Tokyo Tech World Research Hub Initiative, Tokyo Institute of Technology, School of Environment and Society, 3-3-6 Shibaura, Minato-ku, Tokyo 108-0023, Japan)

Abstract

Sustainable public procurement plays an important role in addressing not only environmental but also economic and social issues through government acquisitions from technology-based small suppliers. In this context, the objective of this study is to better understand the holistic public procurement process by assessing the operational efficiency of technology-based small suppliers and associating the economic aspect of public procurement with the social aspect, such as women-owned businesses. To this end, we analyzed U.S. Department of Defense Small Business Innovation Research grantees by combining network data envelopment analysis with bootstrap truncated regression analysis. Drawing on the analysis results, we found that (1) there is heterogeneity in the performance of research and development, network building, and commercialization sub-processes, and (2) there is a positive relationship between the overall performance and women-owned small suppliers who excel particularly in network building. The former implies that small suppliers may have different expertise in the chain of public procurement; the latter suggests that woman entrepreneurs with a business network may be able to outperform their counterparts in the public procurement market.

Suggested Citation

  • Youngbok Ryu & Toshiyuki Sueyoshi, 2021. "Examining the Relationship between the Economic Performance of Technology-Based Small Suppliers and Socially Sustainable Procurement," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(13), pages 1-23, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:13:p:7220-:d:583718
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    1. Sueyoshi, Toshiyuki & Ryu, Youngbok, 2022. "Performance assessment on technology transition from small businesses to the U.S. Department of Defense," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    2. Katerina Fotova Čiković & Ivana Martinčević & Joško Lozić, 2022. "Application of Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) in the Selection of Sustainable Suppliers: A Review and Bibliometric Analysis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(11), pages 1-30, May.

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