Investigation of Barriers to Entry into the Design-Build Market in the People’s Republic of China
Publication: Journal of Construction Engineering and Management
Volume 138, Issue 1
Abstract
Although the design-build (DB) system has been demonstrated to be an effective delivery method and has gained popularity worldwide, it has not gained the same popularity in the construction market of the People’s Republic of China (PRC). The objective of this study was to investigate the barriers to entry in the DB market. A total of 22 entry barriers were first identified through an open-ended questionnaire survey with 15 top construction professionals in the construction market of China. A broad questionnaire survey was further conducted to prioritize these entry barriers. Statistical analysis of responses shows that the most dominant barriers to entry into the DB market are lack of design expertise, lack of interest from owners, lack of suitable organization structure, lack of DB specialists, and lack of credit record system. Analysis of variance indicates that there is no difference of opinions among the respondent groups of academia, government departments, state-owned companies, and private companies, at the 5% significance level, on most of the barriers to entry. Finally, the underlying dimensions of barriers to entry in the DB market were investigated through factor analysis. The results indicate that there are six major underlying dimensions of entry barriers in DB market, including the competence of design-builders, difficulty in project procurement, characteristics of DB projects, lack of support from public sectors, the competence of DB owners, and the immaturity of DB market. These findings are useful for both potential and incumbent design-builders to understand and analyze the DB market in China.
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Acknowledgments
This research was funded by the Hong Kong Polytechnic University and the PRC. Special gratitude also is also extended to those construction academics and industrial practitioners who responded to and contributed their valuable input in completing the questionnaires.
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Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Construction Engineering and Management
Volume 138 • Issue 1 • January 2012
Pages: 120 - 127
Copyright
© 2012 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Sep 4, 2009
Accepted: Mar 17, 2011
Published online: Mar 19, 2011
Published in print: Jan 1, 2012
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