A review of research in construction incentivization

Due to increased project complexity and technological advancements in the last decade, designers and contractors are expected to render more effort to achieve the challenging project goals. To elicit extra efforts from agents, incentivization has become one of the primary strategies employed by clients. Despite increased academic interest in the design of incentive strategies, results of incentivization on project performance remain mixed. This study aims to reconcile these observations through a systematic review of existing literature on construction incentivization. Accordingly, the following research objectives are achieved: (1) examining the main purposes of using incentives, (2) identifying types of incentives are used in construction projects, and (3) evaluating the impacts on project performance that are derived from the use of incentives. Based on the results of the literature review, a framework to study construction incentivization is developed. This study offers a detailed framework to map the types of incentives with the expected outcomes.