Characteristic Analysis of Bidding Collusion in Construction Projects

Abstract

The scale of construction projects is expanding rapidly along with increasing urbanization, and bidding collusion is becoming increasingly serious in construction projects, which damages the interests of legitimate bidders, stakeholders, and society. However, from a practical perspective, there is a lack of systematic analysis of bidding collusion characteristics in construction projects. The study aims to systematically reveal the bidding collusion characteristics of construction projects through a quantitative method. Using publicly available data from China Judgments Online, 161 judgment documents related to bidding collusion are analyzed from four dimensions, including project information, defendant characteristics, collusive behavior patterns, and legal consequences. The paper finds that bidding collusion is more likely to occur in public sector-led projects and is concentrated among top management with decision-making power. Additionally, there is a large gap between the financial penalties for bidding collusion behavior and its illegal gains. The paper proposes to increase the penalty for collusion and strengthen the disclosure of case information to reduce the incidence of bidding collusion in construction projects.