Comparative Study of International Contractors Based on Niche Theory

Niche is one of the most important conception and theory in ecology. It is a conception that describes a species´ occupation of nature resource and relationship with other species. Applying the ecological niche theory into economics, this paper defines international contractor as an organic life body and use enterprise niche to describe the contractors´ position in the international market, their occupation of market resources and their relationships with other contractors. Based on the literature review of niche theory and construction industry, this paper is mainly consisted of four parts. Firstly, it introduces the condition of the international market and the conception of the niche and enterprise niche. Secondly, it establishes the enterprise niche metric models, including enterprise niche width metric models, enterprise niche separation metric models and enterprise population niche separation metric models. Then, based on the enterprise niche metric models and ENR data for international contractors from 2000 to 2006, this paper analyzes the development and competition of the major contractors in the international market and compares the results with Chinese international contractors. And at last, this paper analyzes the causes of the results and makes an effort in analyzing the development strategy of Chinese international contractors.