Measuring the Technological Innovation Efficiency of Listed Construction Companies in China

Abstract

In recent years, China's construction companies have placed increasing emphasis on technological innovation and have invested significant resources in it. How the input-output performance of these resources needs to be clarified. The purpose of this study is to understand the differences and variations in the input-output performance of China's listed construction companies in terms of technological innovation by measuring their technological innovation efficiency (TIE), which can inform their technological innovation decisions. A data envelopment analysis (DEA) based Malmquist productivity index (MPI) model was constructed to measure the TIE of 48 China's listed construction companies from 2015 to 2020. The study has the following findings. Firstly, the overall TIE of listed construction companies decreased by 0.4% per year on average during the study period, which needs further improvement. Secondly, the changes of TIE in different sub-sectors were different. The TIE of companies in the sectors of building decoration, infrastructure construction and mining, metallurgical, and petrochemical engineering increased by 10.7%, 3.7%, and 9.5% annually, respectively. Thirdly, the TIE varies among different companies with 23 companies increasing and 25 companies declining. For most companies, the management level was the main factor restricting TIE's improvement.