Public procurement is increasingly being recognized as a tool to promote corporate social responsibility and a vehicle to help governments achieve their social development goals. Due to their power to intervene and their reliance on tax money, public sector organizations are focused on expanding the inclusion of social responsibility in their public procurement strategies. At the EU level, there is a strong focus on providing new opportunities for public authorities to promote socially responsible public procurement. Utilizing translation theory and following the travel of ideas framework in a Scandinavian institutionalism approach, this study maps the adoption, development, and implementation of social responsibility in public procurement through the five stages of materialization, categorization, transportation, institutionalization, and re-travel. Qualitative data were collected through in-depth interviews with public procurement authorities from municipalities, regional councils, and governmental organizations in Sweden. The findings show that the travel of social responsibility policies in public procurement follows a new Scandinavian institutionalism approach that has brought policy makers freedom in prioritizing social issues but leaves them confused about what to prioritize.

Furthermore, while the results show a positive relationship in organizations between their size, measured as full-time procurement employees, and their maturity level in terms of social responsibility, this maturity level is not associated with their procurement spending. The study findings have important implications for research on socially responsible public procurement. Additionally, the data collected from public organizations suggest several ways that policy makers can include, promote, and institutionalize social responsibility in their procurement strategies to reduce disparity and improve social welfare.

公共采购越来越被认为是促进企业社会责任的工具和帮助政府实现其社会发展目标的工具。由于其干预权力和对税收的依赖，公共部门组织正致力于将社会责任纳入其公共采购战略。在欧盟层面，重点是为公共当局提供新的机会，以促进对社会负责的公共采购。本研究利用翻译理论并遵循斯堪的纳维亚制度主义方法中的思想旅行框架，通过物化、分类、运输、制度化、并重新旅行。定性数据是通过对瑞典市政当局、地区委员会和政府组织的公共采购当局的深入访谈收集的。调查结果表明，公共采购中社会责任政策的实施遵循了一种新的斯堪的纳维亚制度主义方法，该方法使政策制定者可以自由地优先考虑社会问题，但让他们对优先考虑的内容感到困惑。

此外，虽然结果显示组织的规模（以全职采购员工衡量）与其社会责任的成熟度水平之间存在正相关关系，但这种成熟度水平与他们的采购支出无关。研究结果对社会责任公共采购的研究具有重要意义。此外，从公共组织收集的数据表明，政策制定者可以通过多种方式将社会责任纳入、促进和制度化其采购战略，以减少差距并改善社会福利。