Is the Construction Industry More Concentrated After the COVID-19 Pandemic? An Empirical Study on the U.S. Revenue Data from 2004 to 2021

9 pages•Published: December 11, 2023

Abstract

As a most important industry in the U.S., the construction industry faces multiple challenges since the COVID-19 pandemic. Backed by government interventions that have helped streamline construction projects, however, the aftermath of the pandemic is still vague. One of the imperative issues to be examined is the construction market concentration since the pandemic, especially how it is compared to the Great Recession. This study statistically analyzes the revenue gaps among the U.S. construction companies and the changes of their revenue rankings. This study uses the data from Engineering News-Record Top List of Contractors. The results show that unlike the Great Recession, which obviously enlarged the revenue gaps, there is no evidence yet demonstrating that the COVID-19 pandemic caused noteworthy disruptions to the revenue gap among construction companies. The government interventions, such as the Paycheck Protection Program and the Infrastructure Investment and Job Act, are regarded as effective stabilizers, until the cutoff of data collection at the beginning of 2022. The medians of ranking changes across years generally remain stable, including the period of pandemic. The study also indicates the necessity to include more longitudinal data and sectional data to explore long-term impacts and sector-wise conditions.

Keyphrases: construction industry, covid 19, empirical study, market concentration

In: Tom Leathem, Wes Collins and Anthony Perrenoud (editors). Proceedings of 59th Annual Associated Schools of Construction International Conference, vol 4, pages 605-613.

Links:	https://easychair.org/publications/paper/W5cg
	https://doi.org/10.29007/rfl3

BibTeX entry

@inproceedings{ASC2023:Is_Construction_Industry_More,
  author    = {Yunping Liang and Jung Hyun Lee},
  title     = {Is the Construction Industry More Concentrated After the COVID-19 Pandemic? An Empirical Study on the U.S. Revenue Data from 2004 to 2021},
  booktitle = {Proceedings of 59th Annual Associated Schools of Construction International Conference},
  editor    = {Tom Leathem and Wes Collins and Anthony Perrenoud},
  series    = {EPiC Series in Built Environment},
  volume    = {4},
  publisher = {EasyChair},
  bibsource = {EasyChair, https://easychair.org},
  issn      = {2632-881X},
  url       = {/publications/paper/W5cg},
  doi       = {10.29007/rfl3},
  pages     = {605-613},
  year      = {2023}}

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