A Review of Public Administration Research: Where Does Public Procurement Fit In?

This study conducts a content analysis of public procurement research in top ranked public administration journals to identify prevalent procurement topics and where gaps exist. This research is unprecedented and illustrates the current integration of procurement in public administration. Results demonstrate that procurement research comprises a small portion of research, economic theories are the prevalent theoretical foundation, and mixed methodology is seldom utilized. Findings demonstrate how future research can contribute to theory and expand the focus of public procurement scholarship in public administration. The main limitation is reliance on systematic reviews of specialized procurement journals as the basis for comparison.