Green Public Administration: A Mixed-Method Conceptual and Comparative Framework for Sustainability-Oriented States

Abstract

The strong global trend towards sustainable governance, using sustainable public administration, has created a demand for integrated governance that enables institutional systems to connect with the aims of sustainability. This study explores the Sustainable Leadership's influence on Sustainable Outcomes via the mediation of the governance mechanisms of Sustainable Public Engagement, Cross-Sectional Coordination, Green Budgeting, and Institutional Capacity in the context of Green Public Administration. Based on Ecological Modernization Theory and New Public Governance, the paper suggests a governance structure to provide an explanation of the relationship between institutional transformation and participatory governance in the promotion of environmental and administrative governance. The research design used a quantitative approach, a cross-sectional analysis technique, which was followed by Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) analysis. The framework was tested for reliability, convergent validity, discriminant validity, model fit, and mediation analyses. The findings reveal that Sustainable Leadership significantly influences Public Engagement (β = 0.725, p = 0.000), Cross-Sectional Coordination (β = 0.845, p = 0.000), Green Budgeting (β = 0.811, p = 0.000), and Institutional Capacity (β = 0.820, p = 0.000). In addition, there are significant direct effects of Public Engagement (β = 0.448, p = 0.000) and Institutional Capacity (β = 0.377, p = 0.000) on Sustainable Outcomes and insignificant direct effects of Cross-Sectional Coordination and Green Budgeting. Theoretically, the study contributes by building on Green Public Administration literature with three dimensions of governance: leadership, institutional effectiveness, and participative governance. From a practical perspective, the results have relevance for policymakers who are interested in pushing for administrative reforms and/or changes in institutional mechanisms that can assist them in achieving sustainable environmental governance in the long term.