1、 毕业论文外文文献翻译 Risk and Price in the Bidding Process of Contractors Samuel Laryea1 and Will Hughes2 【 Abstract】 Formal and analytical risk models prescribe how risk should be incorporated into construction bids. However, the actual process of how contractors and their clients negotiate and agree to pri
2、ce is complex and not clearly articulated in the literature. With participant observation, the entire tender process was shadowed in two leading U.K. construction firms. This was compared with propositions in analytical models, and significant differences were found. A total of 670 h of work observe
3、d in both firms revealed three stages of the bidding process. Bidding activities were categorized and their extent estimated as deskwork (32%), calculations (19%), meetings (14%), documents (13%), off-days (11%), conversations (7%), correspondence (3%), and travel (1%). Risk allowances of 12% were p
4、riced in some bids, and three tiers of risk apportionment in bids were identified. However, priced risks may be excluded from the final bid to enhance competitiveness. Although risk apportionment affects a contractors pricing strategy, other complex microeconomic factors also affect price. Instead o
5、f including pricing contingencies, risk was priced primarily through contractual rather than price mechanisms to reflect commercial imperatives. These findings explain why some assumptions underpinning analytical models may not be sustainable in practice and why what actually happens in practice is
6、important for those who seek to model the pricing of construction bids. 【 Keywords】 Bidding； Contractors； Participant observation； Risk apportionment； United Kingdom Introduction Formal and analytical risk models that contractors can incorporate into the bidding process for the purpose of allocating
7、 risk contingencies have proliferated in recent years e.g., a fuzzy set model by Zeng et al. (2007)； a fuzzy logic-based artificial neural network model by Liu and Ling 1 (2005)； a fuzzy set model by Paek et al. (1993)； a fuzzy set model by Tah et al. (1993)； and an influence diagramming-based techn
8、ique by Al-Bahar and Crandall (1990). However, several empirical studies of contractors have shown that they are rarely used in practice seven contractors in the United Kingdom studied by Tah et al. (1994)； 30 in the United Kingdom studied by Akintoye and MacLeod (1997)； 12 in the United States stud
9、ied by Smith and Bohn (1999)； 84 in the United Kingdom studied by Akintoye and Fitzgerald (2000)； 38 in Hong Kong studied by Wong and Hui (2006)； and 60 in Hong Kong studied by Chan and Au (2007). This paper will demonstrate that th relationship between risk and price in the process used by contract
10、ors to calculate their bids for construction work is not articulated sufficiently in the literature although it is summarized in Laryea and Hughes (2008). Most analytical risk models proposed by academic researchers have sought to prescribe how risk should be included in a bidding price. However, th
11、e actual process of how contractors and their clients negotiate and agree on price is complex and not clearly documented in most of the literature. As explained in a construction contracts textbook by Murdoch and Hughes (2008, p. 128), many contracts for construction work are created by the process
12、of tender, which often involves some form of market competition that clients use to obtain the lowest price from contractors. The fact that the pricing of work occurs in the tender process means that first, a basic understanding of the whole tender process used by contractors to arrive at a bidding
13、price is needed. Second, a basic understanding of how and in what circumstances price is influenced by the apportionment of risk is needed. However, little empirical research exists about the process used by contractors to put together a bidding price, as shown in Appendix I. Without a precise under
14、standing of how contractors price a bid and account for risks in reality, it would be difficult to conceptualize analytical models for approaching risk response in the way that it normally happens in practice. Risk assessment should have a serious influence on a contractors pricing strategy, but oth
15、er factors also affect price. The price clients are willing to pay for construction work depends not only on their available resources, but also on what other sellers (i.e., contractors) in the market are willing to offer for the same product. (See the microeconomic theory of the behavior of individ
16、ual competitive markets in Lipsey 1979, p. 93.) 2 A bidding price may be dependent on the market or competitive environment in which it takes place. Brook (2004) explains that bidding often involves two processes. First, estimating is the stage in which the actual project costs are considered. This
17、process may depend on the level of expertise in a contractors estimating department. Second, adjudication is the stage in which the directors of a firm take a commercial view of the estimated cost in the context of the firms particular circumstances, market conditions, and risk. Management will ulti
18、mately try to pitch the bidding price between cost and value to win the work. (See the explanation in Murdoch and Hughes 2008, pp. 138139.) The approach used by contractors to evaluate risk in the process of pitching their bidding price to respond to these factors is not always clearly explained in
19、the literature, as shown in Appendix I. However, several analytical approaches have been proposed to help contractors deal with risk when bidding.Without a sufficient understanding of how contractors actually price a bid and consider risks in reality, it would be hard to conceptualize analytical mod
20、els that align with what contractors actually do. However, as Skitmore and Wilcock (1994, p. 142) acknowledged, it is hard to get contractors to participate in studies of this nature primarily because of the commercially sensitive data involved. Several studies of contractors have shown that contrac
21、tors are often reluctant to fully account for the cost of risk in their bidding price to avoid inflating their price with risk allowances and become uncompetitive. See, for example, an interview study of 12 U.S. contractors by Smith and Bohn (1999) and a questionnaire study of 400 U.S. contractors b
22、y Mochtar and Arditi (2001). Thus, it is not surprising that several studies have shown that most contractors rarely approach the incorporation of risk in their bid proposals according to the contingency allocation theory prescribed by most analytical models. It also implies that other risk response
23、 mechanisms are probably used by contractors that could be shared and used to guide practical risk analysis techniques. Background Risk is a part of business endeavors because of uncertainty (Flanagan and Norman 1993； Fischer and Jordan 1996). Portfolio theory and capital market theory stipulate that total risk consists of
