A Systematic Literature Review of Research on Social Procurement in the Construction and Infrastructure Sector: Barriers, Enablers, and Strategies

Catherine Xiaocui Lou (), Riccardo Natoli, David Goodwin, Barbara Bok, Fang Zhao and Peng Zhang
Additional contact information
Catherine Xiaocui Lou: Institute for Sustainable Industries & Liveable Cities, Victoria University, Melbourne, VIC 3000, Australia
Riccardo Natoli: Institute for Sustainable Industries & Liveable Cities, Victoria University, Melbourne, VIC 3000, Australia
David Goodwin: Nottingham University Business School, University of Nottingham Malaysia, Semenyih 43500, Malaysia
Barbara Bok: Faculty of Health, Arts and Design, Swinburne University of Technology, Hawthorn, VIC 3122, Australia
Fang Zhao: Tobin College of Business, St. John’s University, New York, NY 11432, USA
Peng Zhang: School of Engineering, Design and Built Environment, Western Sydney University, Penrith, NSW 2751, Australia

Sustainability, 2023, vol. 15, issue 17, 1-29

Abstract: In Australia, a new feature of public policy is the requirement by governments that large-scale infrastructure projects integrate social procurement practices that alter the traditional focus on balancing price and quality. Social procurement has been gradually developing in practice, but the academic literature has not kept pace. Although past research has identified some of the barriers affecting social procurement implementation in the construction industry, the nature of the barriers impeding its proliferation has not to date been systematically reviewed. This paper undertakes a review of the social procurement literature published from January 2012 to 30 June 2022, with 49 papers chosen under selective criteria. This critical review employs the “Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses” (PRISMA) technique to retrieve secondary data on social procurement from available peer-reviewed academic papers through three databases (Scopus, EBSCOhost, Web of Science). The literature analysis focuses on three themes: (1) barriers; (2) enablers; and (3) strategies to overcome the barriers. The paper finds that social procurement as a field of practice is evolving and expanding, but its role in contributing to social value creation remains an under-theorised concept. Recommendations for practice and future research are identified, including the need to measure the real-world impacts of policy.

Keywords: barriers; enablers; construction industry; infrastructure; social procurement (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/17/12964/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/17/12964/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:15:y:2023:i:17:p:12964-:d:1227111

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().