The phenomenon of unsold new housing stocks is an important indicator in the housing market system; it is directly related to the profitability of the construction business and appears as a result of an imbalance in the demand and supply of houses. Changes in demand-supply because of various factors are another phenomenon that occurs in the housing market. It is considered that these changes in demand-supply are closely related to the unsold new housing stocks. Therefore, we analyze the relationship between demandsupply in the housing market and unsold new housing stocks using the vector error correction model. We used data from Seoul as the spatial scope of this study, and the temporal scope of time series data ranged from July 2001 to July 2009. To obtain the time series data, databases of the Ministry of Land, Transport and Marine Affairs, Statistics Korea, CERIK, and Kookmin Bank were utilized. The results of variance decomposition analyses indicated that for changes in unsold new housing stocks, the explanatory powers of housing selling price indexes and housing loans were high while the explanatory powers of production factors were relatively low. Based on the results of impulse response analyses, the quantity of unsold new housing stocks showed larger changes in response to the impulses of housing prices and housing loans than to the impulse of production factors. Also, it was indicated that, among the production factors, unsold new housing stocks showed a pattern of continued change in relation to the financing status of suppliers while showing impromptu responses to the impulses of the material or manpower situation but no continued change.

: This study undertakes a comparative analysis of the correlation between the condition of the domestic construction market and the expansion of overseas projects within construction companies, based on the vector error correction model. The analysis results verified that, in the post-IMF crisis period, domestic construction companies took on more overseas projects only when the residential construction market slowed down. Compared to the precrisis period, construction companies grew more responsive to the condition of the domestic market for residential construction, and they took on more overseas construction projects when the domestic market slumped. This is because the business portfolios of Korean construction companies' render them highly vulnerable to the condition of the residential construction market. When the domestic residential market slows down, the business condition of construction companies quickly takes a turn for the worse, and to cope with this, they turn to overseas projects to compensate for the slowing of the domestic market. As the analysis shows, expanding overseas construction projects as a way to turn around business condition amid a slow residential construction market actually undermines the management of the companies even further. In other words, shifting business focus toward an overseas market during a hard time might be useful for securing cash flow, but might not help to restore profitability. Thus, construction companies need to carefully manage their level of business diversification to ensure strategic flexibility.

Throughout the last years, the Brazilian construction companies have been developing diversification programs, especially in the fields of infrastructure privatization. Based on a research took effect with 26 medium companies, this article intends to study the real motivations, interests, capacities, partnership forms and results of the actions developed by these companies. The final purpose of the article is to discuss eventual distortions between interests and strategies, and abilities and demands, trying to point new strategic ways to the future. Resumo Ao longo dos últimos anos, as empresas brasileiras de construção civil vêm desenvolvendo ações de diversificação em seus negócios, com especial ênfase no segmento das concessões de obras e serviços públicos. Baseado em uma pesquisa realizada junto a 26 empresas construtoras de porte médio, o presente artigo pretende analisar as reais motivações, interesses, capacidades, formas associativas adotadas e resultados derivados da decisão por diversificar nessas empresas. O objetivo final do artigo é o de apontar eventuais distorções entre interesses e estratégias, e capacidades disponíveis e demandas exigidas para o cumprimento dos programas de diversificação em tais empresas, procurando, ainda, indicar caminhos alternativos para o futuro. Palavras-chave Diversificação, Empresas brasileiras, Privatização, Planejamento estratégico. Análise dos movimentos recentes de diversificação nas empresas construtoras de porte médio no Brasil

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The analysis results showed that as more domestic and overseas orders rolled in for domestic companies, their business conditions improved as the hypothesis suggested. However, the level of improvement varied. Further, when construction companies' business slowed down, the proportion of overseas projects tended to rise, while the ratio of domestic business decreased.