Factor analysis of the trust structure between owners and contractors of construction projects based on structural equation modeling (SEM): A case study in China

Abstract

The trust crisis among stakeholders is very serious in construction projects, and this has affected the smooth implementation and benefit of projects. The existing literature has identified many types of trust. An important framework to understand the variety of trust is provided by Hartman, who distinguishes three types of trust: Competence-based trust, integrity-based trust and intuitive-based trust. In this paper, while considering China’s national conditions and cultural differences, by adopting questionnaire survey, vis-a-vis interview, structural equation modeling and a case study in China, we readjusted integrity-based trust into Guanxi-based trust. We also conducted exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses by using SPSS 17.0 and AMOS 17.0. The result suggest that both scale and model had good reliability and validity, consolidating the theoretical foundation and providing a new perspective for further research on the interaction mechanism between trust and control among stakeholders of construction projects. Key words: Construction project, trust, dimension, structural equation model (SEM), China.