Public procurement of innovation : towards a theory of adoption and implementation by local authorities

This thesis addresses the problem of why a broad agreement on the importance of using public procurement to stimulate innovation (PPI) has not been realised in practice by analysing the adoption and implementation of associated processes by local authorities. It applies evolutionary and institutional perspectives underpinning the systems of innovation approach to reveal the contextual and organisational factors affecting the selection of procurement processes by local authorities. It contains evidence from two case studies in which organisations attempt PPI, comparative analysis of the procurement practices of three European city authorities, and analysis of the strategies and policy setting informing the current PPI paradigm. Data collection and analysis was guided by a framework describing how local authorities are likely to encounter PPI, derived from a review of the innovation and procurement literatures. The analysis re-frames the current PPI debates as translating practices defined in the exogenous institutional setting into legitimate and rationalised alternatives to established, path-dependent procurement routines. It extends our understanding of the framework conditions and processes of PPI and factors contributing to variation in incidence and form. It presents propositions, variables and indicators that could be tested in future studies, and considers implications for future research and policy-making.