Understanding the effects of BIM implementation in corporation finance: An empirical study in China

Building Information Modeling (BIM) has been acknowledged for promoting effectiveness and efficiency in project planning and management activities including design, bidding, and construction. Yet limited effort has been made to investigate the impacts of BIM implementation on corporate performance. Using the financial information of 314 Architecture, Engineering, and Construction (AEC) companies listed in the A-share market of China, this paper examines the economic benefits of BIM practice and assesses the influential mechanism of BIM implementation at the corporation level. The results reveal that BIM adoption contributes to better corporate profitability, especially in non-state-owned enterprises (non-SOEs). The positive impact of BIM implementation on profitability is achieved by the functions of promoting schedule efficiency and operation cost reduction. However, high initial BIM investment is still required in China's AEC companies at the current stage, and the effectiveness enhancement in corporation management has not been realized. By providing clear empirical evidence of the economic benefits of BIM adoption from a corporation perspective, this study might help improve top managers’ awareness, intention, or support of future BIM utilization in China's AEC companies.