Murillo, K P; Rocha, E and Rodrigues, M F (2019) Construction sectors efficiency analysis on seven European countries. Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management, 26(8), pp. 1801-1819. ISSN 0969-9988
Abstract
Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to measure and compare the technical efficiency of construction companies in seven European countries: Austria, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Poland, Portugal and Spain, during the 2008–2015 period. The analysis involves nine sectors grouped into three divisions: construction of buildings (F41), civil engineering (F42) and specialized construction activities (F43), by NACE classification. Design/methodology/approach: Multidirectional efficiency analysis was adopted to investigate the levels of efficiencies, the differences in those levels and the possible causes of such differences by further defining two new indices. Findings: It showed that F43 is the most efficient division during the study period, followed by F42 and F41. The sectors/countries with less efficiency are: construction of roads and railways/Poland, construction of other civil engineering projects/Hungary, demolition and site preparation/Poland, other specialized construction activities/Portugal. Globally, the development of building projects sector uses resources in the most inefficient way and there was a drop in the efficiency in 2011 and 2013, showing a delay in the crisis impact. After 2010, civil engineering projects required a substantial effort to access resources. Other features regarding (in)efficiency were further identified. Originality/value: The analysis was conducted with one of the most effective techniques in frontier analysis. The first introduced index allows for comparing efficient/inefficient subgroups, and the other index measures the resource acquisition effort, allowing a better comparison along years. The study provides a good understanding of the performance of the construction industry and indirectly exposes the strategies to overcome the crisis, through the identification of the inputs/outputs which are well/badly used.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | construction; estimating; international construction; optimization; productivity; strategic management |
| Index terms: | strategic management, methodology, Hungary, Italy, Germany, construction sector, estimating, strategy, construction company, Austria, Poland, international construction, construction industry, efficiency, Spain, construction activity, subgroup, productivity, acquisition, Portugal |
| Subjects: | financial and cost management, construction operations, organization, business, strategic management, research management, industry analysis, performance management, research methods, management, Geography |
| Topics: | Site Management, Quality Management, International Construction, Business Strategy, Cost Management, Geographical Context, Research Practice |
| Descriptive scope: | 3 PCT |
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