International Contracting

International contracting has been playing a more and more important role in the global construction market according to Engineering News-Record (ENR). This chapter first gives a big picture of the current status of international contracting practices in global construction markets, which specifically cover the market status, development of delivery approaches, governance, and model contracts. A focused literature review on this topic, based on six selected top journals in the field of construction and engineering management is then conducted. Six themes emerge in international contracting, namely risk management, entry decision, performance, joint venture, governance, and social responsibility. Some key aspects of these themes are elaborated and comments on the key research findings are offered. It is concluded that research on international contracting is still at a budding stage and far from mature. Based on a brief discussion of the current studies and knowledge gaps, this chapter finally offers a future research agenda with regard to the knowledge boundary, corporate-level knowledge, industry-level knowledge, and institutional environments to build a better international contracting body of knowledge, which will facilitate a healthy and sustainable development of international contracting business.