What factors influence the uptake of GPP (green public procurement) practices? New evidence from an Italian survey

Published Date
October 2012, Vol.82:88–96, doi:10.1016/j.ecolecon.2012.07.011

Analysis

Author 

Francesco Testa ^a,,

Fabio Iraldo ^a,b

Marco Frey ^a,b

Tiberio Daddi ^a

aSant'Anna School of Advanced Studies, Piazza Martiri della Libertà 33, 56127 Pisa, Italy

bIEFE—Institute for Environmental and Energy Policy and Economics, Bocconi University, Milan, Italy

Received 24 July 2011. Revised 1 June 2012. Accepted 17 July 2012. Available online 4 August 2012.

Abstract

Green public procurement (GPP) is becoming a cornerstone of environmental policies both at European Union and Member State levels. Drawing upon a database of public authorities located in three Italian regions, this paper assesses the determinants and drawbacks of green procurement adoption. In particular, using an econometrical approach we tested the following propositions: (i) the existing awareness on GPP practices, tools and regulations does support public authorities to develop GPP strategies; (ii) the support of external experts in purchasing function does support public authorities to develop GPP practices; (iii) the small dimension of public authority is an obstacle to adopting GPP practices; (iv) ISO 14001 certified public authorities are more likely to develop GPP practices. The econometric analysis shows that the dimension of public authorities and the level of awareness of the existing tools for supporting GPP have a positive and significant effect on the probability that they adopt GPP practices.

Highlights

► We assess the determinants and drawbacks of green public procurement adoption. ► We used qualitative data from 156 public authorities collected by a standard questionnaire. ► The dimension of public authorities has a positive effect on the probability that they adopt GPP. ► The awareness on GPP toolkit does support public authorities to develop GPP practices. ► The ISO 14001 certification does not strongly support public authorities to develop GPP practices.

Keywords

Green public procurement

Local authorities

ISO 14001

Environment

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