Understanding the double-edged sword effect of contract flexibility on contractor's opportunistic behavior in construction project: Moderating role of BIM application degree

Contract flexibility is like a double-edged sword for contractor opportunistic behavior, and it may both inhibit and promote such opportunistic behavior. This study constructs a dual-path integration model in which contract flexibility affects contractor's opportunistic behavior through trust and conflict. Based on principal-agent theory, building information modeling (BIM) application degree was selected as a moderating variable for the double-edged sword effect of contract flexibility. A partial least-squares structural equation model (SEM) was used to verify hypothesis based on data collected from 271 questionnaires. The results show that contract flexibility has a positive effect on reducing the opportunistic behavior of contractors through trust, and at the same time, it induces the opportunistic behavior of contractors through payment conflicts. Additionally, the BIM application degree does not solve the double-edged sword effect dilemma of contract flexibility, but amplifies the negative effect of contract flexibility, and then induces the contractor's opportunistic behavior. The findings of this study contribute to the formation mechanism and governance strategy of contract flexibility. It also finds that the use of BIM technology has not achieved the desired effect because the technological development is not synchronized with the development of organizations and people, which provides a new research perspective for the integration of social and technological systems.