Ball, M and Wood, A (1995) How many jobs does construction expenditure generate? Construction Management and Economics, 13(4), pp. 307-318. ISSN 01446193
Abstract
Extra public expenditure on construction is a frequently cited policy to alleviate demand deficient unemployment; yet the actual number of jobs created is uncertain. This paper surveys the job creation effect for the UK. It surveys previous estimates, then a construction employment model is estimated. The results do not conform to theoretical predictions, implying only a weak link between quarterly increases in total construction output and construction employment, and no significant relationship between housebuilding and employment. It is suggested that these results arise from poor quality data, especially the estimates of changes in the number of self-employed workers. As an alternative, construction industry rules-of-thumb are used to derive more plausible employment effects. Employment estimates are also provided for subsectors of the industry. To improve on these calculations we conclude that there is a need for either more accurate construction data or, failing that, periodic site-survey based estimates of construction production functions.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | costs; employment; public expenditure |
| Index terms: | estimate, construction industry, construction production, housebuilding, public expenditure, employment, unemployment, construction output, survey |
| Subjects: | construction integration, management, political science, industry analysis, data collection methods, operations management, financial and cost management, economic analysis |
| Topics: | Governance, Business Strategy, Cost Management, Project Management, Research Practice, Site Management, Human Resources |
| Descriptive scope: | 4 PCTE |
N.B. Descriptive scope is a count of how many of the five facets of empirical research are indicated by the words used in title, abstract and keywords. It is not intended as a judgement on the research; merely a count of the kind of word we would expect to indicate Phenomenon, Concepts, Theoretical framing, Empirical techniques, Analytical techniques. If all five are present, then a code of “5 PCTEA” will indicate this. If you feel the coding for this record is questionable, we welcome discussion around the terms we matched or the way we categorized them. The facet you would expect may not be coded, or a facet may be coded inappropriately. This can also bear on a larger question, of which facets should be treated as defining in construction management research. Please get in touch, and we will look at it. More details here