Is the Construction Industry More Concentrated After the COVID-19 Pandemic? An Empirical Study on the U.S. Revenue Data from 2004 to 2021

Authors

• Yunping Liang, Concordia University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
• Jung Hyun Lee, Roger Williams University

Document Type

Article

Citation

Liang, Y. and Lee, J.H. “Is the COVID-19 Pandemic Widening the Gap between Construction Companies? An Empirical Study on the U.S. Revenue Data from 2004 to 2021” ASC Annual International Conference, Liverpool, UK, April 3-7, 2023

Comments

First Copyright is held by The Associated Schools of Construction (ASC) http://www.ascweb.org/. Original publication in the International Proceedings of the 59th Annual Conference of the ASC (April, 3-7, 2023). Reprint permission granted on March 12, 2026 by author.

Abstract

As a most important industry in the U.S., the construction industry faces multiple challenges since the COVID-19 pandemic. Backed by government interventions that have helped streamline construction projects, however, the aftermath of the pandemic is still vague. One of the imperative issues to be examined is the construction market concentration since the pandemic, especially how it is compared to the Great Recession. This study statistically analyzes the revenue gaps among the U.S. construction companies and the changes of their revenue rankings. This study uses the data from Engineering News-Record Top List of Contractors. The results show that unlike the Great Recession, which obviously enlarged the revenue gaps, there is no evidence yet demonstrating that the COVID-19 pandemic caused noteworthy disruptions to the revenue gap among construction companies. The government interventions, such as the Paycheck Protection Program and the Infrastructure Investment and Job Act, are regarded as effective stabilizers, until the cutoff of data collection at the beginning of 2022. The medians of ranking changes across years generally remain stable, including the period of pandemic. The study also indicates the necessity to include more longitudinal data and sectional data to explore long-term impacts and sector-wise conditions.