Chapter 36: Research on Multi-Level Principal–Agent Relationships and Government Behaviour Analysis of Decision-making in Megaprojects
The planning and decision-making in the phase of initial a mega construction project is led by government in general, which is related to the national economic development, scientific and technological development and the guarantee of people’s livelihood. With a gradual increase in the number and scale of mega construction in China, scientificity and democracy in the decision-making process are both improved remarkably. However, there exist agent crisis and dissimilation of public power, including opportunism behaviours. In this chapter, more than 30 field investigations have been conducted on the long-span bridges across seas, rivers and gorges in China in accordance with the complexity and uncertainty of mega construction decision-making. A conceptual model of hierarchical principal–agent in mega construction decision-making has been established, which mainly focuses on the two core subjects, that is, superior and subordinate governments in the model. It analyzes adverse selection and moral hazard behaviours under the principal–agent relationship of the subordinate government in order to motivate agent behaviours and avoid issues related to the traditional management.