Costantino, N; Pellegrino, R and Pietroforte, R (2011) Asset specificity and specialization in the U.S. Construction industry: A transaction cost theory interpretation. International Journal of Construction Management, 11(4), pp. 13-30. ISSN 1562-3599
Abstract
The great variety of projects in the construction industry requires different technological and production capabilities by firms. This diversity leads firms to specialize in a particular type of construction project or task in order to optimize the use of in-house production resources. In this paper, asset specificity, one of the principles of transaction cost theory is used to analyze and classify the characteristics of U.S. contractors in terms of technologies, specialization and production arrangements. Successive census data are used to verify the theoretical considerations of the analysis. The findings show that asset specificity is a major determinant of US firms' specialization.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | asset specificity; specialization; USA construction; transaction cost |
| Index terms: | construction project, transaction cost, specialization, determinant, construction industry, asset specificity |
| Subjects: | business, risk assessment, financial analysis, industry analysis, production management, economic concepts |
| Topics: | Project Management, Research Practice, Business Strategy, Cost Management, Risk Management |
| Descriptive scope: | 3 PCT |
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