The Influence of Contract Risk Sharing Clause on the Contractors' Fairness Perception—An Experimental Study under the Theory of Multiple Reference Points

Contract risk sharing clause has been identified as an important reference point affecting the contractor's fairness perception, and a reasonable risk sharing clause can improve the contractor's fairness perception. Under the guidance of the contract reference point theory, the method of situational experiment was used to reveal the influence mechanism of contract risk sharing on the contractor's fairness perception under the multi-reference point system. The results show that reasonable risk sharing can significantly improve the contractor's fairness perception. The relationship between the risk liability clause and the contractor's fair perception is not affected by the social reference point. When the average profit level of the industry is higher, the reasonable risk compensation clause will further strengthen the contractor's fairness perception. The contractor's current financial situation has a significant regulating effect on the risk sharing and the contractor's fairness perception. The lossmaking contractor is sensitive to the changes in the terms.