A quantitative investigation of the technological innovation in large construction companies

Abstract

The construction industry is considered as backwards and lack of innovation. The main driving power of technological innovation in the construction industry is large construction companies. However, the driving process of technological innovation in them has not been fully investigated in previous studies. This study constructs a quantitative model to explore the technological innovation driving process of large construction companies considering the key influencing factors for technological innovation. The sample data are the 57 large construction companies selected from the world's largest construction market – China. The results show significant positive correlation between innovation input and innovation output, and between innovation output and performance. The operational capacity of the companies is positively correlated with innovation input, whilst the capital structure is negatively correlated with innovation input. The technical employees have a positive impact on the performance. The underlying reasons are discussed and suggestions are given for the construction industry to improve the technological innovation capacity of construction companies. This research contributes to the literature of construction innovation and benefits practitioners by providing a quantitative approach to demonstrate the driving power of large construction companies for technological innovation.