Exploring Sustainable Public Procurement Through Regulatory Conversations

ABSTRACT This article responds to calls for research on public financial management for sustainable development by exploring sustainable public procurement (SPP), a demand‐side policy tool that is claimed to have great potential. Borrowing from socio‐legal studies, we use the concept of regulatory conversations to explore continuous communicative interactions and interpretations related to SPP in Sweden. Drawing on a dataset consisting of policy documents, referral responses, and media articles, our analysis indicates that strong first‐order linkages between sustainability and procurement have been created over time. However, the analysis illustrates how strong linkages trigger second‐order linkages, that is, new contestations over the operationalization of SPP as the level of concretization increases and the prioritization of goals and values is made possible. Additionally, we extend the existing literature by applying the concept of regulatory conversations to the domain of public financial management. In doing so, we illuminate the inherently deliberative nature of regulation. Through this interdisciplinary approach, we offer a fresh perspective on the mechanisms that support SPP.