The Role of Government Procurement in Sustainable Industry Development—The Trends and Research Agenda

Nannan Wang (), Naixiao Cui, Junlin Hao and Yilin Chai
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Nannan Wang: School of Maritime Economics and Management, Dalian Maritime University, Dalian 116026, China
Naixiao Cui: School of Maritime Economics and Management, Dalian Maritime University, Dalian 116026, China
Junlin Hao: School of Maritime Economics and Management, Dalian Maritime University, Dalian 116026, China
Yilin Chai: School of Maritime Economics and Management, Dalian Maritime University, Dalian 116026, China

Sustainability, 2025, vol. 17, issue 3, 1-23

Abstract: Government procurement (GP) has evolved beyond a mere administrative activity and has emerged as a powerful policy instrument to guide industry development directions. The existing literature often falls short in providing an exhaustive interpretation of such a role of GP in the critical industry sectors. This study employs a two-stage approach, comprising database construction, filtering, coding, and statistical analysis, aimed at conducting a systematic bibliometric review of the studies related to GP to identify its functionalities, including promoting sustainable development, initiating new industry policies, and stimulating innovation. The most addressed industry sectors by researchers are manufacturing, food, agriculture, and construction. Environmental science is the most explored research field, and the circular economy appears as the most recent bursting keyword. The insights from this review identify research gaps and challenges, based on which the proposing directions for future research are suggested, including promoting a circular economy, the sustainable development of the healthcare sector, protecting sustainable supply chains, efficiency evaluation, the application of artificial intelligence technologies in procurement, and exploring inter-functional relationships in GP.

Keywords: government procurement (GP); sustainable development; industry policy; research agenda (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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