Despite the size, complexity and importance of the construction industry, there has been little study to date which focuses on the challenge of drawing reliable conclusions from the available data. The accuracy of industry reports has an impact on government policy, the direction and outcomes of research and the practices of construction firms, so confusion in this area can have far reaching consequences.
In response to this, Measuring Construction looks at fundamental economic theories and concepts with respect to the construction industry, and explains their merits and shortcomings, sometimes by looking at real life examples. Drawing on current research the contributors tackle:
The scope of the book is international, using data and publications from four continents, and tackling head on the difficulties arising from measuring construction. By addressing problems that arise everywhere from individual project documentation, right up to national industrial accounts, this much-needed book can have an impact at every level of the industry. It is essential reading for postgraduate construction students and researchers, students of industrial economics, construction economists and policy-makers.
1. Editors’ Introduction Part 1: Construction Prices 2. Theory and Construction Prices (Goran Runeson) 3. The International Comparison Program and Purchasing Power Parities for Construction (Rick Best, Jim Meikle and Ken Walsh) 4. Cost and Price Indices for Construction (Graham Ive and Marco Yu) Part 2: Construction Output 5. Construction and the Economy (Stephen Gruneberg and Jim Meikle) 6. Internationalization of the Construction Industry (Wilson Lu and Huan Yang) 7. Performance Measures (Craig Langston) 8. Refining the citiBLOC Index (Craig Langston) Part 3: Construction Productivity 9. Theory and Construction Productivity (Malcolm Abbott and Gerard de Valence) 10. Measuring Construction Productivity Using Price Data (Rick Best and Ken Walsh) 11. Construction Productivity and Neural Networks (Ali Najafi and Robert Tiong) 12. Data Envelopment Analysis and Construction Productivity (Malcolm Abbott) 13. Reflections on Construction Prices, Output and Productivity (Rick Best and Jim Meikle)