A mixed review of cash flow modeling : potential of blockchain for modular construction

Abstract

Cash is considered the most critical resource in construction projects. However, many contractors fail to obtain adequate liquidity due to a lack of proper cash flow management. Therefore, numerous research studies have been conducted to address cash flow-related issues in the construction industry. However, the literature still lacks a comprehensive review of cash flow management, methods and topics, in the construction industry. This study contributes by providing a holistic, up-to-date, and thorough review of 172 journal articles on construction cash flow. To achieve this primary objective, the study applies a mixed review methodology using scientometric and systematic reviews. The scientometric analysis provides the most contributing scholars, the timeline of cash flow research attention, and keywords clustering. On the other hand, the systematic analysis categorizes the cash flow themes, identifies current literature gaps, and highlights future research areas in the cash flow domain. The results show that cash flow analysis gained more research attention in the last two decades, cash flow-based schedule is the most frequent topic in the literature, and optimization techniques are predominant in the literature. Consequently, the study highlights five potential research frontiers. Further, an automated payment framework for modular construction projects using Blockchain-based smart contracts is developed to address some of the literature limitations. This study provides a guideline for future research efforts and raises researchers’ awareness of the latest trends and methods of construction cash flow analysis.