Driving through dense fog: a study of the effects and control of sustainable public procurement of electric cars

Governments are large buyers of vehicles, thus contributing to pollution. To promote sustainability, policies have been shaped to replace government-owned fossil fuel cars with electric cars. Public procurement is seen as a strategic tool for the government to transition. This study identifies a research gap due to a lack of studies on how stakeholders at different levels identify and calculate the sustainability effects of public procurement of cars. Our approach uses a multilevel perspective to explore how various stakeholders perceive and assess the effects of sustainable public procurement. The data were obtained through a qualitative research design with documents and semi-structured interviews with stakeholders in Norway ranging from government agencies, public procurement officers, car suppliers, and end-users. (End-users in this setting are the ones who ultimately use the vehicles). The study’s findings are two-fold. First, it contributes to understanding that perceived effects of sustainable public procurement vary from the stakeholders' perspectives and that public procurement initiatives perceive to have cultural effects in addition to innovation, environmental, economic, and social impacts. Second, it contributes to understanding the importance of feedback mechanisms in public procurement to align the assessment of the effects. A better understanding of how effects are identified, and improved feedback mechanisms could help government representatives control the procurement system and accomplish the intended effects.