Impacts of Obstacles in East Asian Cross-Border Construction
Publication: Journal of Construction Engineering and Management
Volume 129, Issue 2
Abstract
In the light of the rapidly growing investment in infrastructure over the past 10 years, East Asia has developed into one of the most dynamic construction markets in the world. Despite progress in market-oriented reforms in some countries of this region, considerable obstacles in the form of varying technical standards and local preference policies still can lead to significant cost increases. Five categories of obstacles are identified in this paper: business environment risk, regulatory restrictions, contractual arrangements and differences in standards and in culture. The likelihood of occurrence of these obstacles as well as their impact on the profitability of cross-border construction are uncertain. The degree of their effect also varies across East Asian countries. Through an industry survey of top international construction firms based in Singapore, the significant obstacles or cost growth factors and their impact on cost growth in tendering, construction, and overheads are determined. In particular, the risk situations in China and Singapore are compared.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
References
Ashley, D. B., and Bonner, J. J.(1987). “Political risk in international construction.” J. Constr. Eng. Manage., 113(3), 447–465.
Diekmann, J. E., and Featherman, W. D.(1998). “Assessing cost uncertainty: Lessons from environmental restoration projects.” J. Constr. Eng. Manage., 124(6), 445–451.
Flanagan, R., and Li, S. R. (1997). International construction: A perspective of China, Chartered Institute of Building.
Haendel, D. (1979). Foreign investments and the management of political risk, West View Press, Boulder, Colo.
Hung, Y. (1997). “Response to risks in the property investment in China.” Proc., Int. Symp. on Marketization of Land and Housing in China, Hong Kong Baptist Univ., Hong Kong.
Kashiwagi, K., Rubin, R. A., and Harris, M. R.(1988). “Construction law and practice in Japan.” J. Constr. Eng. Manage., 114(1), 104–113.
Kirmani, S. S. (1988). “The construction industry in development issues and options,” The World Bank Report, Washington, D.C.
Macdonald, R. (1997). “Chinese BOT risks.” Research Rep., Tokyo Univ., Japan.
Paek, J. H., Lee, Y. W., and Ock, J. H.(1993). “Pricing construction risk: Fuzzy set application.” J. Constr. Eng. Manage., 119(4), 743–756.
Perry, J. G., and Hayes, R. W. (1985). “Risk and its management in construction projects,” Proc., Institution of Engineers, 499–521.
Ramcharran, H.(1998). “Obstacles and opportunities in international engineering services.” J. Manage. Eng., 14(5), 38–47.
Ranasinghe, M., and Russell, A. D.(1991). “Economic risk analysis in large engineering projects.” Can. J. Civ. Eng., 18(1).
Richards, D. P.(1999). “Engineering overseas.” J. Manage. Eng., 15(1), 24–29.
Sodersten, B., and Reed, G. (1994). International economics, 3rd Ed., St. Martin’s, New York.
State Planning Commission (SPC). (1997). “Regulation on the management of tax and fee items for the development of construction projects.” Beijing Real Estate, No. 1, 18–19.
Wang, S. (2000). “Feature of China’s new tendering law.” China Mail, China Information Center, Singapore, 13(1), 28–33.
Wantanakorn, D., Mawdesley, M. J., and Askew, W. H. (1995). “A comparison of uncertainties in construction projects in Thailand and the U.K.,” Proc., 1st Int. Conf. on Construction Project Management, 265–272.
World Bank. (1986). “The construction industry—Issues and strategies in developing countries.” Washington, D.C.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Construction Engineering and Management
Volume 129 • Issue 2 • April 2003
Pages: 131 - 141
Copyright
Copyright © 2003 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Feb 13, 2001
Accepted: Oct 10, 2001
Published online: Mar 14, 2003
Published in print: Apr 2003
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.