Construction sector development: Frames and governance responses

The governance of construction sector development constitutes an important policy issue in many European countries due to the increasing impact that construction as well as the built environment have on gross domestic product and the environment. Previous studies have discussed how national construction industries have been framed as objects of development. However, less attention has been placed on exploring how an industry is recognized and framed as an object that can be subjected to organized development activities from the viewpoint of strategically motivated actors, and how such framing activities may be governed. Based on a case study of the sector development activities in the Danish construction industry, this paper argues that governance strategies should not necessarily be designed to ensure the development of a single industrial conceptualization. First, drawing on concepts from institutional theory it is suggested that strategic framing activities aiming to conceptualize an industry as a sectoral object of development are likely to generate multiple and incommensurable representations with different and conflicting strategic implications. Second, if faced with a development agenda composed of multiple incommensurable sector representations, then the most productive governance response may be to recognize and accept their conflicting strategic implications.