Access to construction work and resources in Zimbabwe: An institutional analysis of the development of the construction industry

The construction industry provides buildings and physical infrastructure that are the basis for Economic development in most countries and generates wealth for those undertaking available construction work. This thesis contributes to the understanding of construction activity, through an empirical study of access to construction work in Zimbabwe, a country in southern Africa with a history of racial division and tension. The first objective of the thesis is to analyse factors influencing who gains access to available work and resources needed to undertake this work. The thesis finds that there are technical, legal and social factors that structure and determine which individuals and enterprises can gain access to the construction industry as professionals and contractors. The structure of access seldom changes significantly without government intervention that is itself constrained by resource limitations. The second objective is to study factors affecting access to construction work and resources in Zimbabwe. The thesis finds that legal considerations profoundly influence who can participate in construction as professionals but not as contractors. There are many indigenous black professionals and technical skills among indigenous black contractors have been increasing. However, whites and foreign enterprises dominate in high value and specialist construction work because they have established networks and contacts that can generate continuous and improving streams of work and resources. This is also evident among thriving indigenous enterprises. Survival and growth in the industry depend on the ability of enterprises, established and new, to create networks and relationships in both the public and private sectors. Enterprises enhance networking ability if they build reputations of competence and ability, by specialising and accumulating resources, all of which occur over a long period. Networks and relationships are not easily broken without state intervention which, in Zimbabwe, has had a limited impact due to lack of public resources and absence of support from those already in the industry. Government support for indigenous black newcomers to the industry seemed to reinforce historic divisions when the white-dominated private sector sided with established white and foreign enterprises. Some black and white firms attempted to overcome these divisions, that limited their opportunities of gaining access to work, by forming joint ventures and collaborating to maximise chances of getting work from both the public and private sectors, effectively diffusing any efforts at exclusively targeting one group. Clearly, industrial development in construction cannot easily be achieved by focusing only on marginalised groups. Change is a slow process due to inertia from the industry's institutional framework and the need for new enterprises to build networks and expertise both of which take a long time and can be enhanced through joint ventures and cross pollination between groups. In situations of economic decline, increased competition for scarce available work, make reform and restructuring even more difficult to achieve. Even then, the restructuring and organisational arrangements that emerge are always hybrids, reflecting benefit maximisation of existing and new participants.