Gerard de Valence
I taught construction economics in the School of the Built Environment at the University of Technology Sydney from 1992 to 2020, and at the Bartlett School of Construction and Project Management at University College London from 2014 to 2020. At UTS I was the founding Course Director of the Master of Real Estate Investment (2015-17) and was previously Course Director of the Master of Property Development (2007-14) and the Master of Facilities Management (2005-07).
In the 1980s, prior to becoming an academic, I worked in the Sydney CBD for brokers, for the Australian Stock Exchange Research Department and for the Property Council of Australia. From 1990-92 I was the economist for the Royal Commission into Productivity in the Building Industry in NSW. Later in the 1990s I worked with the Australian Construction Industry Development Agency and other Commonwealth Government departments and inquiries, the NSW Department of Public Works and Services, and a range of industry associations representing contractors and subcontractors.
During the 1990s I started going to the annual CIB conferences on Construction Management and Construction Economics. The CIB is the International Council for Research and Innovation in Building and Construction. Between 2002 and 2011 I was Coordinator of the research group on Construction Economics (CIB W55), for the last few years as Co-cordinator with Les Ruddock.
With Rick Best I was co-editor of the three volume Building in Value series of books published between 1999 and 2003: Pre-design Issues; Design and Construction; and Workplace Strategies and Facilities Management, the last also with Craig Langston. In 2011 Taylor and Francis published my Modern Construction Economics: Theory and Application. Since then I have contributed to construction economics books with chapters on national accounting, construction statistics, industry structure, firms and productivity.
At the end of 2016 I started the Construction Industry Economics and Policy blog, thinking there would be other people with an interest in economic aspects of construction of the built environment, and in 2020 the time seemed right for the move to a website.
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In 2022 my new book Creative Destruction and Constructing the Built Environment: From the first industrial revolution to the fourth was published.
Publications
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de Valence, G. 2023. On the measurement and characteristics of construction firms in theory and practice, in Best, R. and Meikle, J. (eds.) Describing Construction: Industries, projects and firms, London: Taylor and Francis.
de Valence, G. 2023. Output and employment in Australian built environment industries 2007-19, in Best, R. and Meikle, J. (eds.) Describing Construction: Industries, projects and firms, London: Taylor and Francis.
Meikle, J. and de Valence, G. 2023. Construction producers and products: One industry or three, in Best, R. and Meikle, J. (eds.) Describing Construction: Industries, projects and firms, London: Taylor and Francis.
de Valence, G. 2022. Situating MMC Within Technological Adoption: Can government and industry work together to develop policies and roadmaps for adopting emerging technologies? Buildings & Cities, November.
de Valence, G. 2021. The nature of construction economics, in Ofori, G. (ed.) Research Companion to Construction Economics, Cheltenham: Edward Elgar.
de Valence, G. 2019. The Future of Construction: Drivers of change, Construction Skills Queensland.
de Valence, G. 2019. Reframing construction within the Built Environment Sector, Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management, 26 (5) 740-745.
de Valence, G. and Meikle, J. 2019. Construction output as Gross Fixed Capital Investment, in Gruneberg, S. (ed.) Global Construction Data, London: Taylor & Francis, pp. 18-43.
de Valence, G. 2019. Accounting for the built environment, in Best, R. and Meikle, J. (eds.) Accounting for Construction: Frameworks, productivity, cost and performance, London: Taylor & Francis, pp. 14-30.
de Valence, G. 2019. Comparing construction in national industrial classification systems, in Best, R. and Meikle, J. (eds.) Accounting for Construction: Frameworks, productivity, cost and performance, London: Taylor & Francis, pp.31-45.
de Valence, G. 2018. Construction as a mature technological system, First International Conference on Construction Futures, Wolverhampton.
de Valence, G. 2018. Three pathways to the future for building and construction, First International Conference on Construction Futures, Wolverhampton.
Gruszka, A., Jupp, J. R. and de Valence, G. 2017. Digital Foundations: How Technology is Transforming Australia's Construction Sector, Sydney: Startup Australia.
de Valence, G. 2017. A Method of Measuring the Australian Built Environment Sector, AUBEA Conference, RMIT, Melbourne.
de Valence, G. and Algeo, C. 2016. Transformational Procurement Model for Managing Megaprojects. ANZAM 2016 Conference, Sydney.
de Valence, G. 2015. Characteristics of a project as a temporary micro-market, COBRA Conference, Sydney.
de Valence, G. and Abbott, M. 2015. A review of the theory and measurement techniques of productivity in the construction industry, in Best, R. and Meikle, J. (eds.) Measuring Construction: Prices, Output and Productivity, London: Taylor & Francis, pp. 205-23.
Runeson, G. and de Valence, G. 2015. A critique of the methodology of building economics: Trust the theories, Construction Management & Economics, 33 (2), 117-125.
de Valence, G. and Runeson, G. 2015. Graham Ive and the methodology of building economics, Construction Management & Economics, 3 (2), 126-133.
de Valence, G. 2012. A Theory of Construction Management? Australasian Journal of Construction Economics and Building, 12(3) 95-100.
de Valence, G. 2011. Market Types and Construction Markets, in Modern Construction Economics, London: Taylor and Francis, pp. 154-170.
de Valence, G. 2011. Competition and Barriers to Entry in the Construction Industry, in Modern Construction Economics, London: Taylor and Francis, pp. 100-116.
de Valence, G. 2011. Theory and Construction Economics, in Modern Construction Economics, de Valence, G. (ed.). London: Taylor and Francis, pp. 1-13.
de Valence, G. and Runeson, G. 2011. On the state of the building industry after the GFC and the euro crisis, Australasian Journal of Construction Economics and Building, 11 (4) 102-113.
de Valence, G. 2010. Innovation, procurement and construction industry development, Australasian Journal of Construction Economics and Building, 10 (4) 50-59.
Runeson, G. and de Valence, G. 2008. The New Construction Industry, in Ruddock, L. (ed.) Economics for the Modern Built Environment, London: Taylor and Francis, pp. 199-211.
de Valence, G. 2007. The significance of barriers to entry in the construction industry, The Australian Journal of Construction Economics and Building, Vol. 7, No. 1, pp. 29-37.
de Valence, G. 2006. Building as an economic process revisited, Construction Management and Economics, Vol. 24, 767-771.
de Valence, G. 2006. Future development of construction economics, Construction Management & Economics, Vol. 24, 661-668. Guest editorial.
de Valence, G. 2001, 2010. Defining an industry: what is the size and scope of the Australian building and construction industry? The Australian Journal of Construction Economics and Building, Vol. 1, No. 1, 53-65.
