Labour productivity statistics: a reality check for the Norwegian construction industry

Abstract

Construction is one of the largest sectors that drive the global economy, yet it has failed to receive the necessary attention from the policymakers and investors. The existing construction statistics report the declining state of labour productivity. However, existing statistics often fail to reflect the true scope and economic impact of construction. They mainly account for on-site construction activities, but overlook the manufacturing of construction products and services in construction labour productivity statistics. The aim of this research is to investigate macroeconomic labour productivity and identify the methodological problems inhibiting the effective measurement of construction labour productivity. The paper opted for academic literature review and a case study strategy for data collection. The findings reveal that many productive construction activities related to construction products and services are excluded from the construction labour productivity statistics. The results suggest that Norwegian construction labour productivity is not declining and is actually a productive industry in terms of value added per working hour. Although special reference has been made to the Norwegian construction industry, the same approach holds validity at the international arena of construction statistics. The study offers insights and lessons to construction industries of other countries facing similar productivity related issues.

Fuzzy synthetic evaluation of human resource management practices influencing construction labour productivity

“…Additionally, the relative importance of HRM practices in the three project types is different because of the variations in project locations (countries). Similarly, Ahmad et al (2018) concluded that construction products and services vary from country to country.…”

Effectiveness And Viability Of Increasing Productivity In Market Conditions

“…It is also necessary to keep in mind the so-called "productivity paradox" (Dementyev, 2019) when the overall company productivity temporarily drops despite substantial investments into modernization of technologies and production lines. Altogether, implementation of productivity increase measures requires development of company programs of using the tools listed above that allow assessing their effectiveness and viability in the areas of goods and services production and consumption (Ahmad et al, 2020).…”

Road Construction Labor Performance Control Using PPC, PCR and RNC During the Pandemic

“…This was identified by Howell in 1992 (Hackett et al 2019). As shown in Figure 1, while all norwegian industries improve the productivity of their work force, in terms of value added per working hour, there exists a declining trend in labor productivity of on-site construction Activities (Ahmad et al 2020).…”

“…Figure 1: Labour productivity of on-site construction (Figure 15 in Ahmad et al, 2020) This defect stands out even more in the face of the new normal, due to the increase of TNC and Karunakaran et al (2019), indicate that it is more frequent in road works due to its longitudinal nature; however, the literature has been limited, for the most part, to address variability through none traditional tools in building construction. According to their research, the causes of variability in road works depend on factors that cause delays in the work flow.…”