Wang, J; Li, X; Memari, A; Skitmore, M; Zhong, Y; Ashuri, B; Chen, J and Cao, J (2025) Assessing the implementation and effectiveness of China's social credit system of the construction industry: a case study of Nanjing. International Journal of Construction Management, 25(7), pp. 850-859. ISSN 1562-3599
Abstract
Construction contractor evaluation is the first step in ensuring the successful completion of a project. Nowadays, the Chinese government has developed a social credit system (SCS) and proposed contractors' credit scores as an additional factor to facilitate bidding decisions. Using Nanjing as a case study, this article investigates the status quo of construction contractors' credit scoring. It evaluates how credit scores have impacted the public procurement of construction projects. This article utilizes data-driven approaches and conducts different statistical analyses based on the bidding results of 15,094 public projects and the credit scores of over 6,000 registered construction companies from 2014 to 2021. The results show that (1) around half the companies had no credit-changing activities; (2) credit scores are important when companies are bidding for medium, large, and extra-large projects; (3) large companies are more likely to have better credit ratings; and (4) credit scores have a significant impact on revenue generation. This article provides a basis for understanding the status quo and effectiveness of the SCS implementation in the Chinese construction industry and evaluating its impact on the public procurement of construction projects, which are often concerns of researchers, policymakers, and industry practitioners.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | construction contractors; public policy; social credit system; tender evaluation |
| Index terms: | construction project, public project, practitioner, tender evaluation, China, public policy, construction contractor, bidding, revenue, construction company, effectiveness, construction industry, implementation, case study, statistical analysis |
| Subjects: | organization, practitioner, public policy, bidding, contractual arrangements, economic analysis, tendering, production management, Geography, infrastructure engineering, data collection methods, data science, performance management, industry analysis |
| Topics: | Quality Management, Geographical Context, Project Management, Engineering Principles, Procurement, Business Strategy, Research Practice, Roles and Professions, Governance |
| Descriptive scope: | 5 PCTEA |
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