Modeling Institutional Pressure in the Transition to Digital Procurement: An Empirical Study

This study examines the institutional barriers to the digital transformation of public procurement systems. Despite the proven benefits of digitalizing procurement processes, their implementation in the public sector faces significant institutional constraints. The paper explores the mechanisms of institutional pressure that hinder the adaptation of procurement actors to technological innovations. The research is grounded in the methodological framework of neoinstitutional economic theory, which enables the identification of both formal and informal factors influencing digitalization processes. Special attention is given to the analysis of coercive, normative, mimetic (imitative), and corruptive pressures as key elements of the institutional environment. The findings reveal persistent patterns of resistance to digital innovations, driven by entrenched institutional constraints. The results refine theoretical understandings of institutional change mechanisms in the context of digital transformation and provide practical insights for developing modernization strategies in public procurement. The key contribution of this work lies in its comprehensive analysis of the institutional factors that determine the pace and nature of adaptation to electronic procurement systems, opening new avenues for further research in this field.