Workforce productivity evaluation of the US construction industry from 2006 to 2016

Abstract

Purpose Currently, there is a dearth of research studies regarding macro analysis of the workforce productivity of the US construction industry. The purpose of this paper is to calculate the workforce productivity changes of the US construction industry from 2006 to 2016, with the number of laborers as input and value of construction industry as output. Design/methodology/approach The present study introduced the data envelopment analysis (DEA) based Malmquist productivity index model to measure the workforce productivity of the US construction industry from 2006 to 2016. Findings The results indicated that the workforce productivity of the US construction industry experienced a continuous decline, except for the increases from 2011 to 2013 and from 2014 to 2015. It was also shown that there were gaps in the workforce productivity development level among all states and nine regions in the US construction industry. Besides, the relationship between workforce productivity and four aspects, including real estate price, workforce, climate distribution and economic factors, was analyzed. Research limitations/implications The calculation of the productivity of the US construction industry is based on the premise that the external environment is fixed and unchanged from 2006 to 2016, but the multi-level DEA model for further calculation is required for obtaining more effective conclusions. Social implications This paper measures the workforce productivity of the US construction industry over the past 11 years, which added latest analysis and knowledge into the construction industry, providing decision-makers with advice and data support to formulate policies to improve workforce productivity. Originality/value This study provided both government decision-makers and industrial practitioners with important macro background environment information, which will facilitate the improvement of workforce productivity in the construction industry in different regions of the US.

Study on the construction workforce management based on lean construction in the context of COVID-19

“…As productivity is a complex concept that could be interpreted in various contexts, Davis (2007) provides a three-level productivity measuring framework in which on-site productivity, firm productivity and industry productivity are distinguished. Furthermore, the construction labour productivity (CLP) framework is developed (Yi and Chan, 2014;Li et al, 2021), with project and activity levels being recognised as a more sensitive subdivision. Sufficient evidence suggests that on-site productivity measurements should be the basis for making productivity improvement decisions (Carlos and Paul, 2010;Calvetti et al, 2020).…”

How technological, environmental and managerial performance contribute to the productivity change of Malaysian construction firms

“…In previous research into the construction sector, environmental variables, i.e., OEI were not considered when modelling productivity. Most studies assume a homogeneous physical environment (Luo et al, 2019, Hu and Liu, 2017, Ma et al, 2016, Li et al, 2019. The present research shows that environmental variables are amongst the most critical factors that need to be considered in modelling productivity component but, while they are known to be important in other sectors such as agriculture (Njuki et al, 2018) and healthcare (O'Donnell and Nguyen, 2013), they have not been regarded as such in the construction sector hitherto.…”

“…interest in such environmental variables as weather, which is an important variable affecting productivity because construction firms are exposed to this condition directly (Al Refaie et al, 2020, Moohialdin et al, 2019, Al Refaie et al, 2021, Li et al, 2019. However, there have been no applications to date regarding the decomposition of the environmental productivity component, which is important for construction productivity to be modelled more accurately in heterogeneous production frontier settings.…”

“…For example, temperature has a negative effect while rain positively affects agricultural productivity in the United States (Njuki et al, 2018), with the regionality (remoteness) of different public hospitals in Australia affecting its productivity change (O'Donnell and Nguyen, 2013). In the construction industry, there has been growing interest in such environmental variables as weather, which is an important variable affecting productivity because construction firms are exposed to this condition directly (Al Refaie et al, 2020Refaie et al, , 2021Moohialdin et al, 2019;Li et al, 2019). However, there have been no applications to date regarding the decomposition of the environmental productivity component, which is important for construction productivity to be modelled more accurately in heterogeneous production frontier settings.…”

Labor waste in housing construction projects: an empirical study

“…As a result of this incomplete understanding of the concept of waste, productivity improvement is hardly achievable in the industry (Koskela, 1992). Also, current construction management practices have not been fully able to identify labor waste even though identification of waste is of utmost importance when it comes to productivity improvement (Li et al , 2019).…”