Economic logics in the construction industry

Construction is claimed to be fragmented, contract focused, short sighted and characterised by price competition. These are typical aspects of what is considered the traditional market approach where each company is seen as autonomous and transaction oriented towards others. During the last few decades, numerous theoretical approaches have questioned these assumptions. Studies also on construction, report of long-term and close relationships and a growing interest in concepts such as partnering. One critical issue, in terms of how the relationships between the actors are viewed, is linked to assumptions about what types of interdependencies exist in the industry. Starting with a brief presentation of Thompson’s seminal work on different types of interdependencies, four different theoretical perspectives that describe and explain economic logics in construction, are discussed. Assumptions about boundaries and inter-organisational relations, types of interdependence in focus as well as typical problems are discussed for each approach. The conclusion from the analysis suggests that on the one hand all four models are relevant for the understanding of aspects of the economic logic in the construction industry. On the other hand, none of them seems appropriate for handling the logics simultaneously. The paper concludes by discussing alternative avenues for developing models that can provide more understanding of how the logics, i.e. interdependencies, can be taken into account simultaneously and combined.