Quality assurance in construction by independent experts: a case study of the efficiency performance of state-owned enterprises in China

As a contribution to the wider theoretical discussion on quality assurance in team production, this case study describes, using the capital – output ratio as a measure of efficiency performance, the quality control problems of Chinese construction state-owned enterprises and explains, with reference to relevant scholarly opinions, why the outcome of legislative requirements for experts falls short of expectations in terms of neo-institutional economic reasoning. This is so, even though the law apparently addresses the principal-agent problem in teamwork by strengthening monitoring.