The construction industry has a great impact on the environment and, more than ever, bears responsibility for achieving global sustainability goals. Despite the increasing technological development in the industry, information asymmetry between construction project participants affects communication and causes risks that have the potential to seriously harm project goals. The main objective of this systematic review is to collect and analyze existing scientific papers to summarize knowledge on the risks influenced by information asymmetry in construction projects. The established PRISMA 2020 methodology was used to collect and analyze papers from the two largest databases of scientific literature, Web of Science and Scopus. The coding rules were set up to evaluate the 94 articles that were assessed as eligible. Furthermore, the content analysis was applied with a set of coding rules and with the help of the software Mendeley. This study finds that research on risks caused by information asymmetry is still new, limited and not well connected with theoretical concepts. The most common methods used by researchers are simulation and case study. With a thematic analysis of current knowledge, this study provides a synthesis of identified risks, consequences and mitigation measures, as well as directions for future research.

The construction labor is crucial to the construction industry, which is known globally for its creation of jobs at different skill and professional levels. The world's construction industry is currently experiencing a rapid recovery after the 2008 global crisis. This positive growth is also noticeable in Croatia. Nevertheless, the industry is experiencing a considerable shortage of skilled labor. First, this paper investigates the main causes of the current condition of the labor market through an extensive literature review and construction market analysis. Second, the case study of the Croatian construction labor market is presented. The longitudinal study of official statistical data shows that the total number of workers employed over the last 10 years has decreased significantly. There has been an increase in the number of unskilled workers and a decrease in the number of all other types of workers between 2016 and 2017. Following the literature review and market analysis, the response strategies for the problem of labor shortage in Croatian construction are provided and discussed.

Sustainability requirements pose complex challenges for the construction industry, requiring adaptation strategies, innovative solutions, and collaboration between stakeholders to build resilient structures for the future. Nevertheless, effective collaboration between stakeholders is hindered by information asymmetry, which can produce disputes, endanger honest communication between the participants, and in the long term, negatively affect industrial productivity. To improve the sustainability of construction businesses and construction projects, there is a need for the implementation of mitigation measures for information asymmetry risks. This study presents possible mitigation measures for information asymmetry between clients and contractors in the construction industry. Mitigation measures were identified through a literature review and semi-structured interviews with industry professionals. Furthermore, a questionnaire was designed and employed to prioritize mitigation measures and explore their utility for mitigating three types of risks: adverse selection, moral hazard, and hold-up. The results of this study indicate that building trust, regular supervision and monitoring of work, thorough verification of bidders, and fair distribution of risks between the client and the contractor have the most utility in mitigating information asymmetry in construction projects. The practical contribution of this research includes defining the most useful measures to mitigate risks caused by information asymmetry. Project managers can apply the results of this research for more successful achievement of their project goals. Implementing effective risk management strategies, such as building trust between stakeholders, can help mitigate the impacts of unforeseen events and build resilience in construction projects.

Purpose: As climate change has become a growing concern, sustainable development has become increasingly important. Emissions reduction is a key step for more efficient energy use. In the last few years, the residential building sector in Croatia has received financial support for multi-dwelling building energy efficiency retrofits (EERs). However, some of these projects encountered difficulties due to information asymmetry between the key participants. This study aims to address the problem from the perspective of the principal-agent theory, which is concerned with information asymmetry and the asymmetry's repercussions.Design/methodology/approach: A social network analysis is conducted to reflect the operation and management (OM) details of Croatian multi-dwelling buildings. The key stakeholders of EER are mapped, along with the contractual and communication ties between them. Using the Gephi software, relationship data are visually represented and statistically evaluated.Findings: The analysis indicated two different clusters or groups of stakeholders in EERs in Croatia and enabled the mapping of key relationships between stakeholders. The findings stress the importance of the key relationship between owner representatives (ORs) and property managers (PMs).Originality/value: The contribution of this study is the development of framework for blockchain implementation in EERs, which can be adapted for use in different markets and/or projects. Blockchain is proposed for minimization of information asymmetry between different stakeholders. Blockchain enables communication and cooperation during project development and enhances trust among stakeholders.

Communication risks and asymmetric information among project participants are often associated with poor performance in construction projects. Communication and coordination are prominent issues in recent research on construction management, with little actual theoretical foundation. The purpose of this study is to investigate the extent to which principal–agent (P–A) theory and its implications are used in construction management research. In the archives of the top seven construction management journals, 148 scientific papers mentioning P–A theory were found. The keywords were analysed to determine the connections between them. Network analysis (NA) of the interconnected keywords was used to illustrate the most common relations between P–A theory and construction management. The findings of this study indicate that the most important elements associated with P–A theory in construction management are contracts, governance, partnership, transaction costs, information systems, incentives, risk management, and trust. However, some keywords are often used without considering related theoretical concepts. This study introduces a new perspective on P–A theory research in the field of construction management.