Sustainable Procurement Practices and Supplier Compliance in Emerging Markets

Abstract

Sustainable procurement has moved from a peripheral concern of corporate social responsibility to a central element of supply chain strategy. Buying organisations, both public and private, increasingly expect their suppliers to meet environmental, social and ethical standards alongside traditional requirements of cost, quality and delivery. Emerging markets occupy a pivotal position in this shift: they host a large and growing share of global manufacturing and sourcing activity, yet they are frequently characterised by weak regulatory enforcement, institutional voids, resourceconstrained small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and complex informal supply networks. This paper reviews the foundational literature published up to 2019 on sustainable procurement practices and supplier compliance in emerging markets, including 89 related and semi-related peer studies on procurement, supply chain governance, compliance, auditing, safety and sector practice in emerging economies. Drawing on a structured narrative review of peer-reviewed studies, policy reports and international standards, it synthesises the main conceptual foundations, identifies the principal challenges that inhibit supplier compliance, and examines the opportunities that are emerging to strengthen sustainable procurement outcomes. The review finds that complianceoriented approaches based on codes of conduct and third-party auditing have produced limited and uneven results, largely because they fail to address the capability gaps, cost pressures and multitier opacity that define emerging-market supply bases. In contrast, collaborative, capabilitybuilding and institutionally embedded approaches show greater promise. The paper proposes an integrative framework linking institutional pressures, buyer practices, supplier capabilities and enabling mechanisms to compliance outcomes, and it outlines an agenda for future research and practice.