Dorée, A; Holmen, E and Caerteling, J (2003) Co-operation and competition in the construction industry of the Netherlands. In: Greenwood, D J (ed.) Proceedings of 19th Annual ARCOM Conference, 3-5 September 2003, Brighton, UK.
Abstract
In 2002, a Parliamentary Enquiry Committee exposed widespread collusion practices in the Dutch construction industry. The construction industry in the Netherlands is in turmoil and is seen as not living up to the standards that society requires. There seems to be a culture and an environment that induces and sustains economic offences and malpractices. Furthermore, performance and progress are not keeping pace with other industries. The Parliamentary Enquiry Committee recommended a rethinking construction type of reform initiative. In several countries around the globe, there are ongoing efforts to reform construction. International evidence, as presented at the "revaluing construction" conference in February 2003 in Manchester (CIB/UMIST), shows a trend towards more co-operative relationships and integrated procurement. Pivotal in all reform initiatives are changes in the approach towards public sector procurement, with public clients acting as leading clients in the reform. The aim of the project presented in this paper is to study construction industry reform from the theoretical perspective of industrial organization economics and market dynamics theory. The project connects the construction industry (reform initiatives) with the emerging theoretical insights on dynamic competition. The construction industry might be a good example to test the newly emerging insights in the field of industrial economics. A better understanding of the business systems and market structures, and of lessons learnt abroad, may substantially improve the chances of successful reform of this troublesome industry.
| Item Type: | Conference Paper (Paper) |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | competition; innovation; performance; procurement |
| Index terms: | collusion, revaluing, conference, Netherlands, society, public sector procurement, industrial organization, industrial economics, operative, public client, construction industry, evidence, competition, dynamics |
| Subjects: | tendering, Geography, sociology, market analysis, systems engineering, financial analysis, communities and social development, industry analysis, research dissemination and communication, evaluation and assessment methods, practitioner, real estate economics, contractual arrangements |
| Topics: | Urban Studies, Engineering Principles, Geographical Context, Research Practice, Cost Management, Procurement, Roles and Professions, Stakeholder Management |
| Descriptive scope: | 4 PCTA |
N.B. Descriptive scope is a count of how many of the five facets of empirical research are indicated by the words used in title, abstract and keywords. It is not intended as a judgement on the research; merely a count of the kind of word we would expect to indicate Phenomenon, Concepts, Theoretical framing, Empirical techniques, Analytical techniques. If all five are present, then a code of “5 PCTEA” will indicate this. If you feel the coding for this record is questionable, we welcome discussion around the terms we matched or the way we categorized them. The facet you would expect may not be coded, or a facet may be coded inappropriately. This can also bear on a larger question, of which facets should be treated as defining in construction management research. Please get in touch, and we will look at it. More details here