Effects of market competition on the sustainability performance of the construction industry: China case

Achieving sustainability through the market has been a research topic in the field of sustainable development. Nevertheless, the ways in which sustainability in construction is influenced by the construction market have not been explored explicitly. In the research reported in this paper, hypotheses on the effects of market competition on the sustainability performance of the construction industry were proposed. A structural equation modeling approach was adopted and data from 30 provincial construction sectors in China were collected to test the proposed hypotheses. The results show that market competition can influence industrial sustainability in three ways, namely (1) positive effects on the economic dimension, (2) negative effects on the environmental dimension, and (3) positive effects on the social dimension. The research reported in this paper contributes to the body of knowledge by addressing the role of market competition in institutional drivers of sustainable construction. It is implied that the construction industry has the importance of placing business competition on the tenets of sustainable development. Governmental authorities are thus recommended to include the triple bottom line of sustainability as a benchmark for measuring the efficiency of industrial competition policies. Clients are also suggested to stipulate sustainable construction as a contractor selection criterion in bid documents to improve sustainability in construction.