IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/taf/conmgt/v33y2015i2p117-125.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

A critique of the methodology of building economics: trust the theories

Author

Listed:
  • GÖran Runeson
  • Gerard de Valence

Abstract

Ive's most important contribution to good research was his promotion of existing theories and in particular, the use of the firm rather than the project, as the primary analytical unit. It is suggested that the current standard of research in building economics is poor, and that the failure to use existing theories shares a considerable responsibility for this problem. The predominance of poorly conceived and executed research has put us into a position where the conclusions of 80% of published research papers across the social sciences (which includes building economics) should probably be reversed because of poor methodology, research design and analysis. Peer review, rather than being one of the cornerstones of self-correcting science, is particularly problematic in building economics as it serves to isolate us from external monitoring. Replication, the second cornerstone of good science, has more or less disappeared from our journals as it's not considered prestigious. The end result is that there is no real quality control at the same time as quantity has become increasingly important for resource allocations and academic positions, seriously overextending the system for publications. The only way back to good research is to stop experimenting with fashionable but unsound methodologies and return to tried and tested theories and methodologies.

Suggested Citation

  • GÖran Runeson & Gerard de Valence, 2015. "A critique of the methodology of building economics: trust the theories," Construction Management and Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 33(2), pages 117-125, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:conmgt:v:33:y:2015:i:2:p:117-125
    DOI: 10.1080/01446193.2015.1028955
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/01446193.2015.1028955
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1080/01446193.2015.1028955?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Patricia M. Hillebrandt, 1974. "Economic Theory and the Construction Industry," Palgrave Macmillan Books, Palgrave Macmillan, number 978-1-349-01927-4, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Kim, In-Gyu, 1998. "A model of selective tendering: Does bidding competition deter opportunism by contractors?," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 38(4), pages 907-925.
    2. Michael Buzzelli & Richard Harris, 2006. "Cities as the Industrial Districts of Housebuilding," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(4), pages 894-917, December.
    3. Xue Xiao & Martin Skitmore & Heng Li & Bo Xia, 2019. "Mapping Knowledge in the Economic Areas of Green Building Using Scientometric Analysis," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(15), pages 1-22, August.
    4. Gerard de Valence & Goran Runeson, 2015. "Graham Ive and the methodology of construction economics," Construction Management and Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 33(2), pages 126-133, February.
    5. Chen-Yu Chang, 2015. "A festschrift for Graham Ive," Construction Management and Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 33(2), pages 91-105, February.
    6. Stephen Ngai & Derek Drew & H. P. Lo & Martin Skitmore, 2002. "A theoretical framework for determining the minimum number of bidders in construction bidding competitions," Construction Management and Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 20(6), pages 473-482.
    7. Terence Lam & Keith Gale, 2014. "Highway maintenance: impact of framework agreements upon project financial performance," Construction Management and Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 32(5), pages 460-472, May.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:taf:conmgt:v:33:y:2015:i:2:p:117-125. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Chris Longhurst (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.tandfonline.com/RCME20 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.