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Abstract

In the construction industry price is determined for large indivisible lumps of work, each one of which represents a large proportion of the work load on the contractor (see Chapter 7) or of the part of the organisation operating in a particular market. The most usual method of this price determination is some form of tendering (see Table 7.1), but negotiation in various farms also plays its part. Neither fits easily into the usual mould of the economics of price determination, and in this chapter the process will be analysed. After an introductory section on risk and uncertainty, the pricing process is divided into three decision stages described against the background of tendering. The theoretical approach for all three of the stages is based on Shackle’s (1952)1 conception of degree of potential surprise. Then alternative theories, notably the probability approach, are investigated, and finally consideration is given to the analysis of price negotiation.

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References

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© 1974 Patricia M. Hillebrandt

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Hillebrandt, P.M. (1974). Price Determination for a Single Project. In: Economic Theory and the Construction Industry. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-01927-4_13

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