Sustainability Policy Objectives, Centralized Decision Making, and Efficiency in Public Procurement Processes in U.S. Local Governments

Justin M. Stritch, Stuart Bretschneider, Nicole Darnall, Lily Hsueh and Yifan Chen
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Justin M. Stritch: School of Public Affairs, Arizona State University, Phoenix, AZ 85004, USA
Stuart Bretschneider: School of Public Affairs, Arizona State University, Phoenix, AZ 85004, USA
Nicole Darnall: School of Sustainability, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85281, USA
Lily Hsueh: School of Public Affairs, Arizona State University, Phoenix, AZ 85004, USA
Yifan Chen: School of Public Affairs, Arizona State University, Phoenix, AZ 85004, USA

Sustainability, 2020, vol. 12, issue 17, 1-17

Abstract: Some U.S. local governments are leveraging public procurement to meet their sustainability goals. However, does the simultaneous pursuit of multiple sustainability objectives potentially slow down the speed of procurement processes? We suggest that the simultaneous pursuit of multiple sustainability objectives through procurement is related to decision making speed. Additionally, we argue that centralized decision-making structures might moderate this relationship. Drawing on a representative sample of more than 200 U.S. local governments, we demonstrate that for low-cost purchases, as the number of policy objectives increases, so too does the average length of time for approval. We also find evidence of an interactive relationship between decision-making structures and the number of existing sustainability policies pursued simultaneously. For routine low-cost and routine high-cost purchases, we find evidence that as the centralization of procurement decision making increases, the marginal effect of purchasing complexity on approval times decreases. These findings offer important evidence about how pursuing multiple sustainability objectives affect decision-making efficiency and how decision-making structures might facilitate U.S local governments’ integration of sustainability objectives into their existing internal processes.

Keywords: sustainable public procurement; sustainable public purchasing; social sustainability; public administration; procurement decision making (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

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