Purchasing social good(s): a definition and typology of social procurement

Abstract

Social procurement has gained attention in modern public management; however, considerable differences exist in understanding what social procurement actually is. Divergent definitions of social procurement inhibit effective policy implementation, and can result in imprecision in empirical research. This paper develops a typology of social procurement implementation, and advances a coherent single definition of social procurement. Clarifying the intent and approaches to social procurement will assist policy implementation and empirical evaluation.

Keywords:

• Best value
• government
• social procurement
• social value
• third sector