IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/wly/sustdv/v33y2025i2p2364-2391.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Green public procurement as an effective way for sustainable development: A systematic literature review and bibliometric analysis

Author

Listed:
  • Pablo Ortega Carrasco
  • Fabio Iannone
  • Vera Ferrón Vílchez
  • Francesco Testa

Abstract

Green public procurement (GPP) has emerged as a strategic tool for sustainable development. However, the drivers and barriers to effective GPP implementation remain unclear. Additionally, the growing volume of GPP research necessitates interlinking with sustainability concepts, such as sustainable development, to guide future research. This paper presents a systematic literature review and bibliometric analysis of GPP research between 2003 and 2023 to identify key themes, trends and research gaps. A dataset of 201 documents retrieved from the Web of Science database was analysed using CitNetExplorer and VOSViewer. By analysing prior literature on the effect of GPP on the achievement of sustainable development, we have found, among others concerns, that: (1) richer qualitative analysis on GPP is needed; (2) there is a gap in understanding localised factors influencing GPP in developing countries; and (3) the transformative role of digitalisation in promoting social and environmental outcomes in GPP is an essential factor. These findings will inform policymakers, practitioners and researchers on the effective implementation of GPP for sustainable development.

Suggested Citation

  • Pablo Ortega Carrasco & Fabio Iannone & Vera Ferrón Vílchez & Francesco Testa, 2025. "Green public procurement as an effective way for sustainable development: A systematic literature review and bibliometric analysis," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 33(2), pages 2364-2391, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:sustdv:v:33:y:2025:i:2:p:2364-2391
    DOI: 10.1002/sd.3234
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1002/sd.3234
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1002/sd.3234?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Raminta Pranckutė, 2021. "Web of Science (WoS) and Scopus: The Titans of Bibliographic Information in Today’s Academic World," Publications, MDPI, vol. 9(1), pages 1-59, March.
    2. Junqi Liu & Yanlin Ma & Andrea Appolloni & Wenjuan Cheng, 2021. "How external stakeholders drive the green public procurement practice? An organizational learning perspective," Journal of Public Procurement, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 21(2), pages 138-166, June.
    3. Testa, Francesco & Iraldo, Fabio & Frey, Marco & Daddi, Tiberio, 2012. "What factors influence the uptake of GPP (green public procurement) practices? New evidence from an Italian survey," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 82(C), pages 88-96.
    4. Fatima Hafsa & Nicole Darnall & Stuart Bretschneider, 2021. "Estimating the True Size of Public Procurement to Assess Sustainability Impact," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(3), pages 1-18, January.
    5. Rob Vluggen & Relus Kuijpers & Janjaap Semeijn & Cees J. Gelderman, 2020. "Social return on investment in the public sector," Journal of Public Procurement, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 20(3), pages 235-264, April.
    6. Lutz Preuss, 2007. "Buying into our future: sustainability initiatives in local government procurement," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 16(5), pages 354-365, July.
    7. Diego Badell & Jordi Rosell, 2021. "Are EU Institutions Still Green Actors? An Empirical Study of Green Public Procurement," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 59(6), pages 1555-1572, November.
    8. Sofia Lingegård & Johanna Alkan Olsson & Anna Kadefors & Stefan Uppenberg, 2021. "Sustainable Public Procurement in Large Infrastructure Projects—Policy Implementation for Carbon Emission Reductions," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(20), pages 1-21, October.
    9. Wei Gao & Huai-Cheng Guo, 2014. "Nitrogen research at watershed scale: a bibliometric analysis during 1959–2011," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 99(3), pages 737-753, June.
    10. Mieko Igarashi & Luitzen de Boer & Gerit Pfuhl, 2017. "Analyzing buyer behavior when selecting green criteria in public procurement," Journal of Public Procurement, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 17(2), pages 141-186, March.
    11. Claudio A. Bonilla & José M. Merigó & Carolina Torres-Abad, 2015. "Economics in Latin America: a bibliometric analysis," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 105(2), pages 1239-1252, November.
    12. Ana R. Leal & David Perez-Castillo & José Ernesto Amorós & Bryan W. Husted, 2020. "Municipal Green Purchasing in Mexico: Policy Adoption and Implementation Success," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(20), pages 1-26, October.
    13. Ionela Corina Chersan & Valentin Florentin Dumitru & Cãtãlina Gorgan & Vasile Gorgan, 2020. "Green Public Procurement in the Academic Literature," The AMFITEATRU ECONOMIC journal, Academy of Economic Studies - Bucharest, Romania, vol. 22(53), pages 1-82, February.
    14. Adelaide Owusu Agyepong & Godwell Nhamo, 2017. "Green procurement in South Africa: perspectives on legislative provisions in metropolitan municipalities," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 19(6), pages 2457-2474, December.
    15. Nees Jan Eck & Ludo Waltman, 2017. "Citation-based clustering of publications using CitNetExplorer and VOSviewer," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 111(2), pages 1053-1070, May.
    16. Rob Vluggen & Cees J. Gelderman & Janjaap Semeijn & Marc van Pelt, 2019. "Sustainable Public Procurement—External Forces and Accountability," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(20), pages 1-16, October.
    17. Yue Liu & Ying Qu & Zhen Lei & Han Jia, 2017. "Understanding the Evolution of Sustainable Consumption Research," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 25(5), pages 414-430, September.
    18. Otilia Manta & Mirela Panait & Eglantina Hysa & Elena Rusu & Maria Cojocaru, 2022. "Public Procurement, a Tool for Achieving the Goals of Sustainable Development," The AMFITEATRU ECONOMIC journal, Academy of Economic Studies - Bucharest, Romania, vol. 24(61), pages 861-861, August.
    19. Nees Jan Eck & Ludo Waltman, 2010. "Software survey: VOSviewer, a computer program for bibliometric mapping," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 84(2), pages 523-538, August.
    20. Laura Montalbán-Domingo & Madeleine Aguilar-Morocho & Tatiana García-Segura & Eugenio Pellicer, 2020. "Study of Social and Environmental Needs for the Selection of Sustainable Criteria in the Procurement of Public Works," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(18), pages 1-21, September.
    21. Justin M. Stritch & Stuart Bretschneider & Nicole Darnall & Lily Hsueh & Yifan Chen, 2020. "Sustainability Policy Objectives, Centralized Decision Making, and Efficiency in Public Procurement Processes in U.S. Local Governments," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(17), pages 1-17, August.
    22. Hafiz Muhammad Usman Khizar & Muhammad Jawad Iqbal & Muhammad Imran Rasheed, 2021. "Business orientation and sustainable development: A systematic review of sustainability orientation literature and future research avenues," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 29(5), pages 1001-1017, September.
    23. Plaček, Michal & Valentinov, Vladislav & del Campo, Cristina & Vaceková, Gabriela & Ochrana, František & Šumpíková, Markéta, 2021. "Stewardship and administrative capacity in green public procurement in the Czech Republic: Evidence from a large-N survey," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 33.
    24. Arash Kordestani & Setayesh Sattari & Kaveh Peighambari & Pejvak Oghazi, 2017. "Exclude Me Not: The Untold Story of Immigrant Entrepreneurs in Sweden," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(9), pages 1-22, September.
    25. Christopher McCrudden, 2004. "Using public procurement to achieve social outcomes," Natural Resources Forum, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 28(4), pages 257-267, November.
    26. Juana Camacho-Otero & Casper Boks & Ida Nilstad Pettersen, 2018. "Consumption in the Circular Economy: A Literature Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(8), pages 1-25, August.
    27. Katriina Alhola & Sven‐ Olof Ryding & Hanna Salmenperä & Niels Juul Busch, 2019. "Exploiting the Potential of Public Procurement: Opportunities for Circular Economy," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 23(1), pages 96-109, February.
    28. Conghu Wang & Yuhua Qiao & Xiaoming Li, 2020. "A systems approach for green public procurement implementation," Journal of Public Procurement, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 20(3), pages 287-311, April.
    29. Simona Roxana Patarlageanu & Mihai Dinu & Marius Constantin, 2020. "Bibliometric Analysis of the Field of Green Public Procurement," The AMFITEATRU ECONOMIC journal, Academy of Economic Studies - Bucharest, Romania, vol. 22(53), pages 1-71, February.
    30. Joyce Thomson & Tim Jackson, 2007. "Sustainable procurement in practice: Lessons from local government," Journal of Environmental Planning and Management, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 50(3), pages 421-444.
    31. Jacob Hasselbalch & Nives Costa & Alexander Blecken, 2014. "Examining the relationship between the barriers and current practices of sustainable procurement: A survey of un organizations," Journal of Public Procurement, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 14(3), pages 361-394, March.
    32. Martina K Linnenluecke & Mauricio Marrone & Abhay K Singh, 2020. "Conducting systematic literature reviews and bibliometric analyses," Australian Journal of Management, Australian School of Business, vol. 45(2), pages 175-194, May.
    33. 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.
    34. Anna Kadefors & Sofia Lingegård & Stefan Uppenberg & Johanna Alkan-Olsson & Daniel Balian, 2021. "Designing and implementing procurement requirements for carbon reduction in infrastructure construction – international overview and experiences," Journal of Environmental Planning and Management, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 64(4), pages 611-634, March.
    35. Eric Prier & Edward Schwerin & Clifford P. McCue, 2016. "Implementation of sustainable public procurement practices and policies: A sorting framework," Journal of Public Procurement, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 16(3), pages 312-346, March.
    36. Ole Ellegaard & Johan A. Wallin, 2015. "The bibliometric analysis of scholarly production: How great is the impact?," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 105(3), pages 1809-1831, December.
    37. Yanlin Ma & Yuting Liu & Andrea Appolloni & Junqi Liu, 2021. "Does green public procurement encourage firm's environmental certification practice? The mediation role of top management support," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 28(3), pages 1002-1017, May.
    38. Appolloni, Andrea & D'Amato, Alessio & Wenjuan, Cheng, 2011. "Is public procurement going green? experiences and open issues," MPRA Paper 35346, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    39. Kristina Galjanić & Ivan Marović & Nikša Jajac, 2022. "Decision Support Systems for Managing Construction Projects: A Scientific Evolution Analysis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(9), pages 1-23, April.
    40. Lela Mélon, 2020. "More Than a Nudge? Arguments and Tools for Mandating Green Public Procurement in the EU," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(3), pages 1-24, January.
    41. Renata C. A. Mendonça & Ivo V. Pedrosa & Maria Amália O. A. Camara, 2021. "Sustainable public procurement in a Brazilian higher education institution," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 23(11), pages 17094-17125, November.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Abderahman Rejeb & Karim Rejeb & Yasanur Kayikci & Andrea Appolloni & Horst Treiblmaier, 2024. "Mapping the knowledge domain of green procurement: a review and bibliometric analysis," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 26(12), pages 30027-30061, December.
    2. 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.
    3. 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.
    4. Plaček, Michal & del Campo, Cristina & Valentinov, Vladislav & Vaceková, Gabriela & Šumpíková, Markéta & Ochrana, František, 2022. "Gender heterogeneity and politics in decision-making about green public procurement in the Czech Republic," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 10(3), pages 239-250.
    5. Michal Plaček & Cristina del Campo & Vladislav Valentinov & Gabriela Vaceková & Markéta Šumpíková & František Ochrana, 2022. "Gender Heterogeneity and Politics in Decision-Making About Green Public Procurement in the Czech Republic," Politics and Governance, Cogitatio Press, vol. 10(3), pages 239-250.
    6. Sofia Lingegård & Malena I. Havenvid & Per-Erik Eriksson, 2021. "Circular Public Procurement through Integrated Contracts in the Infrastructure Sector," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(21), pages 1-19, October.
    7. Abderahman Rejeb & Karim Rejeb & Andrea Appolloni & John G. Keogh & Mohammad Iranmanesh, 2024. "Uncovering the Green Procurement Knowledge Structure: a Systematic Citation Network Analysis," Circular Economy and Sustainability, Springer, vol. 4(1), pages 287-316, March.
    8. Nicolas, Ruben & Titl, Vítězslav & Schotanus, Fredo, 2025. "European funds and green public procurement," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 227(C).
    9. Michael Olumekor, 2024. "Fuzzy Methods in Entrepreneurship Research," Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation in Emerging Economies, Entrepreneurship Development Institute of India, vol. 33(2), pages 365-392, May.
    10. Michal Plaček & Cristina del Campo & Vladislav Valentinov & Gabriela Vaceková & Markéta Šumpíková & František Ochrana, 2022. "Gender Heterogeneity and Politics in Decision-Making About Green Public Procurement in the Czech Republic," Politics and Governance, Cogitatio Press, vol. 10(3), pages 239-250.
    11. Marcos Ferasso & Tatiana Beliaeva & Sascha Kraus & Thomas Clauss & Domingo Ribeiro‐Soriano, 2020. "Circular economy business models: The state of research and avenues ahead," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(8), pages 3006-3024, December.
    12. Klara Granheimer & Per-Erik Eriksson & Tina Karrbom Gustavsson, 2022. "Adaptability in Public Procurement of Engineering Services Promoting Carbon Reduction: An Organizational Control Perspective," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(10), pages 1-18, May.
    13. Małgorzata Krzywonos & Zdzisława Romanowska-Duda & Przemysław Seruga & Beata Messyasz & Stanisław Mec, 2023. "The Use of Plants from the Lemnaceae Family for Biofuel Production—A Bibliometric and In-Depth Content Analysis," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(4), pages 1-24, February.
    14. Rosell, Jordi, 2023. "Did governments neglect the environment during the COVID-19 pandemic? An empirical analysis of green public procurement," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 80(C), pages 835-849.
    15. Waleed Kalf Al-Zoubi, 2024. "How Sustainable is Environmental Economics? A Review of Research Trends and Implications," International Journal of Energy Economics and Policy, Econjournals, vol. 14(2), pages 319-334, March.
    16. Peter Džupka & Matúš Kubák & Peter Nemec, 2020. "Sustainable Public Procurement in Central European Countries. Can It Also Bring Savings?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(21), pages 1-13, November.
    17. Ole Ellegaard, 2018. "The application of bibliometric analysis: disciplinary and user aspects," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 116(1), pages 181-202, July.
    18. Bryngemark, Elina & Söderholm, Patrik & Thörn, Martina, 2023. "The adoption of green public procurement practices: Analytical challenges and empirical illustration on Swedish municipalities," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 204(PA).
    19. Dries Couckuyt & Toshi H. Arimura & Takuro Miyamoto & Naonari Yajima, 2023. "Green Policymaking in Japanese Municipalities: An Empirical Study on External and Internal Contextual Factors," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(9), pages 1-26, April.
    20. Sofia Lingegård & Johanna Alkan Olsson & Anna Kadefors & Stefan Uppenberg, 2021. "Sustainable Public Procurement in Large Infrastructure Projects—Policy Implementation for Carbon Emission Reductions," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(20), pages 1-21, October.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:wly:sustdv:v:33:y:2025:i:2:p:2364-2391. 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: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1002/(ISSN)1099-1719 .

    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.