The bidding game

Published bidding models have traditionally been approached from the point of view of the bidder or contractor. This paper deals with the analysis of more than 5,000 tenders comprising approximately 34,000 bids which were received by the specifiers. It was found that similar recognizable statistical frequency distributions existed in three different countries. It is therefore postulated that there exists a typical behavior pattern which can be represented by this frequency distribution. It was also postulated that the coefficient of variation of a tender is indicative of the risks which the bidders perceived. The means of the frequency distributions of the coefficients of variation also appear to be independent of the country, the type of construction industry, the economic climate, or time.