The current study aims to provide an overview of the research on political risk using the Web of Science（WoS）database as well as summarize research results and put forward some suggestions for research directions of political risk in international construction projects. It is the first time scientometric analysis of political risk research is executed. In this regard, the papers related to political risk in the WoS database have been retrieved and the literature is sorted out by visual and content analysis methods. Visual analysis is used to analyze the research overview, knowledge base, and research hotspots of this field. The content analysis method is adopted to expound the current research focus from three perspectives inducing the influence of political risk, risk assessment, and risk management measures. The results show that in the political risk context, the number of publications has experienced an increasing trend in recent years. Based on the existing literature on political risk for all companies, this overview provides some suggestions to address the political risk in international construction projects in the future. The results contribute to the scholars understanding of the research overview, research hotspots, and future research directions of political risk research in construction projects.

As construction projects are becoming more deployed and more complicated at the same time, having an instrument for anticipation of success has become a primary requirement for every stakeholder. On this basis, several models have been introduced which implement different methods for anticipation of the entire goals or a series of goals of projects. In this research, at the first step, 16 criteria as instruments of anticipation of success and 33 factors as required instruments for obtaining success were extracted through library studies, semi-structured interviews and the Delphi method. At the next step, by having 169 questionnaires filled by senior managers of construction projects, the importance and priority of each of these 16 criteria and 33 factors for the initial phases of projects were determined according to Iran’s local conditions. Ultimately, through modeling of data by a propagation neural network including 35 hidden layers, the anticipator model for success of construction projects during their initial phases was developed with Performance and Regression. This model is able to anticipate the level of realization of projects’ success criteria according to the level of realization of success factors at the initial phase.

Every nation in the globe endeavours to achieve sustainable growth in its various industries. The construction industry has an enormous contribution to the economy primarily for the developed nations experiencing urgent demands to develop and expand their infrastructure. While this expansion is taking place through projects, it is essential to find the factors affecting completion of project premium. This paper investigates the main time delay and cost overrun causes in construction projects within Oman related to clients, contractors, and consultants. Through a comprehensive literature review, reasons for delays and cost overrun are determined and a survey targeting 100 project managers was conducted to indicate top causes among them. The findings may help the government develop better policy and construction firms to modify criteria procedures to avoid such drawbacks.

Housing is one of the most important sections of development in a country and its economic importance has put it in the center of attention. It can cause rise and depression of habitation by its extended economic aspects. Mehr Housing plan is a state run housing project in most cities started 2007 in Iran to protect and provide cheap housing for poor people and young couples. Mehr housing project by its large scale and wide dimensions can affect the society’s economy. Therefore, to investigate weaknesses and strengths of this project in terms of economic and applying necessary reformation can increase the success probability of this project. For this purpose, this study assess the weaknesses and strengths of Mehr housing of province of Khorram Abad in Iran for achieving economic goals and also presents solutions to better access to these goals. Time scope of the present study is 6 months of 2011 and the second 3 months of 2012. The methodology is applicable in terms of goal and is descriptive survey in terms of nature. In this study, a combined method of interviewing to experts and distributing a questionnaire among the applicants of Mehr housing has been used for data collecting. Among strengths of Khorram Abad in economic section, employment and urban landfill pattern reformation can be implied. In addition, among weaknesses of this project are lack of proper first design and technical justification of the project and use of only 2 shabby fabrics.