The success of construction contractors largely depends on the specific terms and the availability of sufficient funds for realizing planned projects. Financial issues in construction have been discussed since mid 1970s, yet no consensus about progress has been reached in the construction finance literature. A systematic analysis of 259 finance related studies in construction is undertaken to identify research trends, critical topics, and performance of journals and authors. To map the productivity in construction finance field, Scopus database was searched for the entire period for which this database provides online coverage. Results reveal that “financial health” category, in particular one group of studies aiming to monitor and assess the financial performance of construction organizations for broader strategic issues pervaded the construction finance research. However, notably the “identification of capital structure, determinants and financing instruments” category received less and only recent attention from scholars, despite the significance of capital structure decisions under firm and country specific determinants in preventing company failures.

Structured Abstract:Purpose The purpose of this paper is to introduce and develop a knowledge base for the restoration industry to understand and deal with risks arising in restoration projects. Restoration projects face a number of risks and are viewed unfavorably. The research study, therefore, is expected to generate interest and debate among the professional and researcher community in the arena of restoration of built cultural heritage for formally applying Project Management (PM) and Project Risk management (PRM) theories and practices. Design/methodology/approachThe research method consists of reviewing published literature and analyzing the dynamics of restoration industry (both from academic and practitioner point of view) in order to propose an application framework. Building upon and taking inspiration from the fundamentals of Construction Management, the proposed framework is supposed to methodically apply risk management within the proposed project management stages. FindingsResearch results confirmed that the restoration industry has not yet exposed to formal PM and PRM theories and practices to a greater level. Thus there is enormous impetus and ensuing incentive with the incorporation of formal theories and customized tools. Research limitations/implicationsThis research attempts to target the exceedingly important area of cultural heritage restoration and the missing aspect of PM and PRM. Further, the proposed framework is an attempt at bridging communication gaps between management and restoration experts. Thus, it highlights the importance of scientifically and effectively managing restoration projects. Nevertheless, this uniting attempt has its own risks in terms of terminologies, technical language, and the understanding of risk and its management which may be effective limitations as in the field of engineering also, the foundation of PM and PRM areas of knowledge finds its traces in Construction Management -which is further an application of management in construction engineering -it's rather challenging to reconcile knowledge from different areas. Practical implicationsThe paper explores issues concerning sustainability of restoration projects based on their use of PM and PRM. Results are expected to help stakeholders of restoration projects understand and apply the proposed PRM framework. This study is also aimed to develop a foundation for dissemination of PM and PRM knowledge in the restoration industry, and provide an impetus for future studies to examine how restoration projects can deal with risky situations. Social implicationsThe paper explores the sustainable development aspects of restoration projects in order to help stakeholders of built cultural heritage make critical decisions because if not managed properly, risks in a restoration project may either cause project failure or damage the historical buildings. Therefore, from a sustainable perspective, it is imperative that stakeholders identify, analyze, control and manage risks before commencing the restoration activities. Ori...

Despite many studies on cash flow management in construction literature, a very limited number of attempts exist focusing on strategies employed by contractors to increase the amount of cash in their hands in the early phases of the project and to improve their cash balance. Based on this gap, this study aims to identify and evaluate cash flow management practices of contractors in Turkey. In this context, a web-based questionnaire survey was conducted with construction company owners and managers involved in the decision process of cash flow management practices. Data obtained from a total of 96 participants show that construction companies commonly hold working capital equivalent to 10% to 20% of the contract sum in their hands at the beginning of the construction. Construction companies frequently recourse to cash flow management strategies to decrease external financing requirements and prevent possible cash shortages during construction. While trade credits followed by overbilling are the most preferred approaches, unbalanced bidding techniques are employed to a limited extent.Furthermore, a clear distinction has been identified between the strategies adopted by companies of different ages and sizes. Trade credits are the first option only for small and young companies and are most widely used by them. Also, the adoption of overbilling techniques increases as company size and age grows. Similarly, unbalanced bidding practices increase with years of experience in the industry. Construction productivity, quality of work, and completion risks come to the fore as common concerns with delaying payments to the suppliers and subcontractors. Also, unbalanced bidding practices are assumed very risky, and accurate estimations are of critical importance at this point.

Starting with the seminal work of Modigliani and Miller in 1958, various capital structure theories have been set forth by corporate finance researchers, such as the trade-off and financial hierarchy theories. The present research uses data from the survey questionnaire conducted with 158 Turkish construction companies to explain the financial decisions of contractors in terms of capital structure theories. Results reveal that firm age, size and asset values appear to be positively correlated to debt-equity ratio and the volatility of earnings and cash-flows are important determinants of leverage, confirming the trade-off theory. On the other hand, the construction sector clearly follows a financial order consistent with the financial hierarchy theory, but other propositions of the theory are not supported. Overall, it is concluded that capital structure decisions of construction firms cannot fully be explained by the existing models. Rather, firms appear to exploit “windows of opportunities” emerging from changes in macro-economic indicators, such as interest rates, GDP and resulting market conditions.

Yap-İşlet-Devret modeli (YİD) ile kamu hizmetlerinin sağlanmasında dünyada öncü ülkelerden olan Türkiye’de, giderek artan kentsel nüfusa bağlı olarak özellikle ulaştırma yatırımlarına olan ihtiyaç artmaktadır. YİD modelleri, bünyesinde projenin başarısını etkileyen çok sayıda riski barındırmaktadır. Bu risklerin tanımlanması; tanımlanan risklere yönelik yanıtların geliştirilerek doğru risk paylaşımlarının yapılabilmesi için önem arz etmektedir. Çalışmada, Türkiye’de YİD modeliyle gerçekleştirilmiş üç güncel ulaştırma projesinde karşılaşılan risklerin tanımlanması ve tartışılması amaçlanmıştır. Çalışmanın sonucunda; üç projede ortak olarak, finansman temini ile ilgili ve fizibilite çalışmalarının yetersizliğinden kaynaklanan problemler nedeniyle projelerin kapsamında ve tarafların risk paylaşımlarında değişikliklere gitmek durumunda kalındığı anlaşılmıştır. Yaşanan problemlere rağmen projelerin kararlılıkla hayata geçirilmesi, ülkede YİD projelerine yönelik güçlü bir politik desteğin olduğunu göstermektedir. Ancak, YİD projeleri için en kritik risk faktörü olan “öngörülen piyasa talebine ulaşılamaması”, bu projelerde de söz konusu olmuştur. Yol projelerinde, geçiş ücretleri ve farklı alternatiflerin bulunması talebi etkilemiş olup; projeler tamamlandıktan kısa süre sonra ortaya çıkan Covid-19 salgınına bağlı dünya genelindeki kapanmaların, beklenen gelirlerin sağlanamamasının esas nedeni olduğu düşünülmektedir. Türkiye’deki YİD ulaştırma projelerinin fizibilite aşamasında çevresel, teknik ve ekonomik açılardan kapsamlı olarak değerlendirilmesi; yapım ve işletme süresince karşılaşılan problemlerin minimuma indirilmesinde temel teşkil etmektedir.