Construction Industry Economics and Policy

A BLOG ABOUT THE STRUCTURE AND PERFORMANCE OF THE BUILDING AND CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY

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Oct 20
8 min

Is Productivity Growth in Construction Possible?

Construction is found to be at a high level of technical efficiency and close to the limits of current technology.

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Sep 24
8 min

Construction Employment at Record High in Australia

Between 2007-22 an increase in construction work done required more people, but there has been great variation between industry subsectors.

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Aug 24
6 min

The Long Cycle in Australian Construction Productivity

Over the last 15 years, Construction productivity in Australia has gone through a long cycle and ended up more or less where it began.

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Jul 7
9 min

Australian Manufacturing of Prefabricated Buildings and Construction Products

The extent and scale of prefabrication used in Australian construction is unknown, and currently is unknowable.

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Jun 14
4 min

Getting a Broad View of Constructing the Built Environment

A Satellite Account for Built Environment Industries How the built environment is created and maintained through project initiation,...

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May 29
2 min

Construction is Not a Service Industry

Is the industry’s output a service, the management of construction, or a product?

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Jan 20
3 min

Australian Built Environment Industries: Output and Employment

Industries are groups of firms with common characteristics in products, services, production processes and logistics, subdivided by the...

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Nov 30, 2022
6 min

Construction Productivity Trends for Building, Engineering and Construction Services

Compares deflated GVA per person employed to nominal IVA per person employed for Building, Engineering and Construction services.

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Sep 22, 2022
7 min

Comparisons of Construction to Manufacturing Use Flawed Data

The post uses UK industry statistics to show structural differences, and compares construction to the car industry

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Feb 20, 2022
6 min

New US Data Shows We Have a False Picture of Construction Productivity

It is possible the methods used to estimate construction productivity might be faulty, giving a false picture of the industry.

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Jun 29, 2020
4 min

Developments in Construction Economics

The book brought a great deal of data together, and updated previous work in empirical CE on measuring construction activity.

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Aug 25, 2019
2 min

Industries Included in the Australian Built Environment Sector

The method used to measure the size and extent of the Australian BES is to collect the data for output and employment.

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Aug 5, 2019
5 min

Production of the Built Environment

Parts of the economy that involve many different contributors and participants are often called an industrial or economic sector.

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Jun 25, 2019
6 min

Why We Should Measure the Built Environment Sector

The built environment is important. We are surrounded both by it and by its construction, management and maintenance.

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May 14, 2019
1 min

Accounting for Construction

This book is the second in a series that explores a range of topics related to construction projects, firms and the industry as a whole.

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Jan 25, 2018
3 min

Measuring Construction Inconsistently

There is an International Standard Industrial Classification, but Europe, North America and Australasia have their own versions.

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Aug 4, 2017
5 min

The Australian Construction Industry After the Mining Boom

There were significant compositional and structural changes in construction during the mining boom.

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Jul 21, 2017
2 min

Construction in the Australian Economy

This profile of the economic role Australian construction focuses on the industry’s contribution to output and employment.

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Jul 17, 2017
3 min

The Australian Built Environment Sector

This is the modern approach to national statistics, accessing and organizing data from a range of sources, mostly digital.

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About the Blog

The organisation of the building and construction industry and its role in the creation and maintenance of the built environment is the focus of this blog.

Like other industries, construction is being reshaped by rapid and widespread advances in materials, technology and capability. How those advances might affect an industry that has changed slowly over time is an interesting question.The blog collects industry data and discusses these trends and their effect on industry structure and performance.

The economic perspective focuses on firms and industries rather than individual projects.

Gerard de Valence

I studied politics, philosophy and economics at Sydney University and worked in the private sector for a decade before becoming an academic in the School of the Built Environment at the University of Technology Sydney and UCL’s Bartlett School of Construction and Project Management in London. The ABOUT page has my bio.

Reorganizing Construction With 3D Printing

Nov 10

Is Productivity Growth in Construction Possible?

Oct 20

Construction Employment at Record High in Australia

Sep 24

The Long Cycle in Australian Construction Productivity

Aug 24

Australian Manufacturing of Prefabricated Buildings and Construction Products

Jul 7

Getting a Broad View of Constructing the Built Environment

Jun 14

Construction is Not a Service Industry

May 29

Incremental Innovation in Construction

Apr 30

The Fourth Industrial Revolution and Construction

Mar 24

Review of Thinking Like an Economist by Elizabeth Pop Berman

Feb 1

Australian Built Environment Industries: Output and Employment

Jan 20

Situating MMC Within Technological Adoption

Dec 5, 2022

Construction Productivity Trends for Building, Engineering and Construction Services

Nov 30, 2022

Employment Trends in Australian Built Environment Industries

Oct 21, 2022

Comparisons of Construction to Manufacturing Use Flawed Data

Sep 22, 2022

Construction Industry Policy and Industry Culture

Aug 29, 2022

Research Companion to Construction Economics

Jul 4, 2022

Building Standards, Energy Codes and Decarbonization

May 30, 2022

3D Concrete Printing and Digital Construction

Apr 23, 2022

New US Data Shows We Have a False Picture of Construction Productivity

Feb 20, 2022

Infrastructure Investment and Economic Growth

Jan 13, 2022

BIM Mandates and Construction Industry Policy

Oct 23, 2021

Industry Policy and the UK Construction Reform Movement

Sep 22, 2021

Industrialized Building and the Failure of Katerra

Aug 14, 2021

Macroeconomic Policy and Australian Built Environment Industries

Jun 29, 2021

More Data on Australian Contractors

May 31, 2021

Comparing Large and Small Construction Firms

May 4, 2021

Fewer Large Contractors in Australia

Apr 21, 2021

Australian Construction Tech on the Move

Mar 23, 2021

The Digital Construction Production System

Mar 8, 2021

Construction and Advanced Technologies

Feb 5, 2021

Digitization and Advanced Business Technologies in Industry

Jan 14, 2021

Production of the Built Environment as an Industrial Sector

Nov 30, 2020

Construction 4.0 Book

Oct 20, 2020

Construction as a Technological System of Production: A Life Cycle Approach

Oct 14, 2020

Democratizing our Data

Sep 22, 2020

Construction AI

Jul 27, 2020

Developments in Construction Economics

Jun 29, 2020

Industry Structure and General Purpose Technologies

Feb 26, 2020

Evolution of the Construction Technological System

Jan 27, 2020

Construction as a Mature Technological System

Dec 25, 2019

Procurement, Contracts and Information

Dec 14, 2019

Construction in the Fourth Industrial Revolution

Oct 23, 2019