Government’s Role in Collaborative Innovation of Construction Enterprises: History
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Contributor:
Xiaochun Zeng
,
Suicheng Li
,
Shi Yin
,
Zeyu Xing

Suppliers’ participation in green project collaborative innovation has been widely recognized by construction enterprises. However, there are still many problems in the collaborative innovation system, such as a lack of collaborative innovation motivation, imperfect collaborative innovation infrastructure, and opportunistic behavior of suppliers. The role of the government in the collaborative innovation system of green building projects of construction enterprises is to promote innovation or formulate government regulations.

  • green building projects
  • construction enterprises
  • collaborative innovation

1. Introduction

As one of the pillar industries of China’s economic development, the construction industry plays a very important role in promoting the rapid development of China’s economy and society and the people’s quality of life. However, the rapid expansion of China’s construction industry has led to a large amount of energy consumption, as well as a large amount of construction waste and carbon emissions; accordingly, the green innovation of construction enterprises has attracted widespread attention to achieve sustainable development and reduce environmental pollution as much as possible [1][2]. In this way, the environmental pollution of buildings has been reduced as much as possible. Green innovation can not only reduce the impact of production activities on the environment, but also play a key role in creating a more sustainable economic and social value. Therefore, it is urgent to actively carry out green innovation activities of construction enterprises and develop corresponding green new products, so as to realize the rational use of resources, as well as sustainable development and growth, effectively improve the ecological environment, promote sustainable development of enterprises, and enhance the competitive advantage of green innovation [3][4].
Because the development of green technology innovation of Chinese construction enterprises is restricted by many factors, most Chinese construction enterprises choose to give up green technology innovation. As a result, the development of green technology innovation in China lags behind that of developed countries [5]. To reverse this situation, construction enterprises gradually carry out green innovation through collaborative cooperation. In the construction product innovation activities, the green building project innovation of construction enterprises is a complex innovation behavior, involving many subjects, including the government, other enterprises, and universities. It is necessary to cooperate with each other [5][6][7]. Construction enterprises are the main body of innovation, while the government is the corresponding promoter. With the support of government policies, construction enterprises cooperate closely with suppliers. The willingness of cooperation between construction enterprises and suppliers is increasing [8], whereby supplier participation in green project innovation of construction enterprises enables construction enterprises to solve the problem of insufficient knowledge, technology, and other related resources in the innovation process by consulting with suppliers to design products and jointly determine green raw material standards and design specifications, so as to carry out the collaborative innovation of green building projects among enterprises [9]. The participation of suppliers in green project innovation of construction enterprises can not only effectively reduce the innovation risk and cost but also accelerate the industrialization process of construction products [10]. Suppliers’ participation in green project collaborative innovation has been widely recognized by construction enterprises. However, there are still many problems in the collaborative innovation system, such as a lack of collaborative innovation motivation, imperfect collaborative innovation infrastructure, and opportunistic behavior of suppliers (leakage of core knowledge, violation of resource allocation commitment, and violation of collaborative innovation norms).
The role of the government in the market is as a regulator, participant, and policymaker. The role of the government in the collaborative innovation system of green building projects of construction enterprises is to promote innovation or formulate government regulations [11]. It is necessary to formulate strict environmental laws and regulations to encourage innovation, support and encourage enterprises to invest in pollution-free technologies, upgrade corresponding equipment, and improve technologies [12][13], so as to stimulate enterprises to better carry out collaborative innovation of green building projects. As the top-level design and coordination elements, how to create a good policy environment, how to promote collaborative innovation of green building projects of construction enterprises, and how to enhance the enthusiasm of suppliers to participate in collaborative innovation of green building projects of construction enterprises have become urgent problems to be solved.

2. Collaborative Innovation of Green Building Projects

In the construction supply chain, the supply chain of integrated green building materials has become an important element for collaborative green innovation of construction enterprises [14]. It has been found that the partner choice of green technology innovation is an important factor affecting the green innovation among enterprises in the supply chain of integrated green building materials. Both internal and external green orientation of construction enterprises will promote green cooperation and innovation between enterprises and suppliers, as well as between enterprises and customers [15]. Suppliers participate in the collaborative innovation activities of green building projects, and enterprises fully acquire and utilize the professional knowledge and technology of suppliers. It is an enterprise that integrates external suppliers’ knowledge, while expanding and updating its own knowledge base [16][17]. Colin, applying resource-based theory, knowledge-based theory, and capability theory, discussed the diversified sustainable development orientation of green entrants and the key factors affecting green innovation performance [9]. Other studies discussed the role of suppliers in successfully implementing green innovation capability in enterprise product development [18][19].
Olanipekun et al. believed that incentive policy is the key means to promote the development of green building market [20]. From the perspective of green building developers and consumers, Rehn and Ade introduced government subsidies, analyzed the dynamic evolution path of developers and consumers, and proposed incentive policies [21]. Zhao et al. established the corresponding evolutionary game model by studying the subsidies to enterprises in the green supply chain and giving appropriate subsidies to consumers when making green production decisions [22]. The study found that not only does direct financial support have an impact on the green technology innovation of small and medium-sized enterprises, but the construction of the regional environment is also very important for small and medium-sized enterprises [23]. Chang et al. pointed out that the government’s incentive policies can promote the application of renewable energy in construction and infrastructure construction [24]. Environmental regulation has a positive impact on the green technology innovation of construction enterprises [25].
Considering a management system composed of the government and two competing enterprises which are producing green products, a game model was constructed to seek the optimal subsidy amount of the government [26]. The subsidies had a positive effect on green product innovation, whereas voluntary agreement had no effect on green product innovation, and tax laws and regulations on green product innovation produced a negative influence. This was mainly due to reduced financial input resources available for product innovation [27]. Daddi et al. (2010) proved through empirical analysis that the impact of environmental regulation on enterprise technological innovation is constantly changing with the adjustment of time and external factors, and there is no definite positive or negative impact in the long term [28]. As the external environment manager of the country, the government will be passively affected by the collaborative innovation behavior of enterprises, becoming a stakeholder of green collaborative innovation, and its environmental regulation means will indirectly affect the green innovation behavior of enterprises [29]. Cohen et al. (2017) believed that the government should provide incentive policies for builders and buyers, which would not bring too much cost to government departments [30]. Government grants and financial support are considered key to promoting the development of green building products, and government regulation, government procurement, and research and development are important components of the green building industry [31]. Green building infrastructure construction projects are an important governance mechanism for the rapid development of the green building material industry, and green innovation subsidies are a core governance mechanism for high-quality development. Pollution punishment and fraud compensation punishment for green building materials enterprises, green innovation subsidies for green building developers tax incentives, and purchase subsidies for consumers are conducive to the transformation of green production and consumption concepts. Infrastructure construction is conducive to promoting building through the development and purchase of green building materials [32].
Enterprises in the construction supply chain strive to adopt advanced science and technology to promote collaborative innovation. The collaborative innovation cooperation of green building projects promotes the research and development of new products, new technologies, new methods, etc. In the collaborative innovation process, the construction supply chain partners provide corresponding technology and resource support [1]. Enterprises can improve efficiency in the new knowledge developed by collaborative innovation activities, as well as launch innovative products faster with less research and development costs. Participating in collaborative innovation activities is one of the important behaviors [33] under the situation of open innovation, whereby more and more construction enterprises are crossing industrial fields, breaking regional restrictions, and building collaborative innovation networks that conform to their own development and system. Construction enterprises are project-driven enterprises, and all kinds of business activities of enterprises are carried out around engineering projects. There is coordination and interaction between construction enterprises and their stakeholders at every moment in the process from the initiation of engineering projects to the delivery to the construction party. The innovation of small project-based companies is usually closely related to their business activities and is driven by owners who use very scarce resources to make progress in normal business gaps [34]. Technological progress is the main means to drive the innovation of construction projects [35]. The motivation for a single enterprise to adopt innovation in construction projects is driven by the exchange and interaction between the relevant subjects involved in innovation [36]. By interacting with other enterprises in the supply chain of the construction industry, enterprises can find new opportunities and acquire new knowledge, which is also necessary knowledge to solve important problems and difficulties in construction projects [37]. By participating in collaborative innovation activities, knowledge integration and reorganization can be achieved through mutual exchange, and mutual cooperation can further increase collaborative innovation among participants in green building projects as an effective way to break through the obstacles of building development. It is difficult for a single enterprise to innovate independently and complete the project tasks. It is necessary to form a construction industry alliance with other enterprises.

This entry is adapted from the peer-reviewed paper 10.3390/buildings12081179

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