Chapter
Dec 9, 2021

The Characteristics of Construction Disputes: Transaction Cost Economics Perspective

Publication: ICCREM 2021

ABSTRACT

It is broadly acknowledged that contracts play an important role in the architecture, engineering, and construction industry. It is also widely acknowledged that construction disputes are gradually becoming an epidemic. Facing the increased construction disputes, practitioners are struggling to find ways to equitably and economically resolve them. In addition, much of the related research on disputes are discussed. According to Williamson’s framework of Transaction Cost Economics (TCE), disputes in construction may be inevitable. Hence, how to properly resolve these disputes is very important for all participants involved in construction projects. Under the framework of TCE, the “transaction” is the basis of analysis, and this feature makes TCE a very useful contact with many of the issues of central interest to applied microeconomics. This research aims at finding out the construction dispute characteristics (CDCs) in line with asset specificity, uncertainty, and frequency, which are identified by Williamson as principal dimensions with respect to differing or various transactions. These characteristics are considered beneficial to the construction industry, as they could provide construction professionals with a systematic approach in selecting the proper dispute resolution technique.

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Go to ICCREM 2021
ICCREM 2021
Pages: 406 - 415

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Published online: Dec 9, 2021

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1Associate Professor, Dept. of Construction Management and Real Estate, Chongqing Jianzhu College, Chongqing, China. Email: [email protected]

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