Patterns in Worldwide Literature About Green Public Procurement: Bibliometric Analysis and Knowledge Mapping

Abstract This paper proposes a bibliometric analysis of specialized literature related to green public procurement (GPP) and aims to identify thematic developments, significant contributions, and the main research directions in this field. GPP is a process whereby public authorities seek to procure goods, services, and works with a reduced environmental impact throughout their life cycle. The bibliometric analysis is conducted using 842 publications indexed in the Web of Science databases, applying rigorous selection criteria and utilizing specialized tools such as CiteSpace and Bibliometrix. The study involves the work of 5016 authors (Appolloni A. – the most productive author), affiliated with 200 research institutions (Tor Vergata University – the most productive university) from 121 countries (China – the largest number of publications). The results indicate the most collaborative authors in GPP (Appolloni A., Testa F.), the most co-cited papers (Brammer S. 2011, Walker H. 2009), but also the most used topics (green public procurement, sustainable procurement), respectively the most current topics of interest (green innovation, supply chain management). Although research in the field of GPP is in a consolidation phase, scientific interest is growing, and the integration of green aspects into public procurement policies is becoming increasingly frequent at the international level.