Drivers of productivity: A case study of the Australian construction industry

Abstract

Australian construction productivity has grown slowly since 1985 and remained arguably stagnant. The importance of this study was therefore to examine several drivers of construction productivity and to understand possible avenues for improvement. The drivers tested at the national level were research and development, apprentices, wage growth, unionisation and safety regulation. Selection of these drivers was based on previous construction and productivity research. Wages and research and development expenditure were found to drive construction productivity at the national level and expenditure on research and development and the number of apprentices were found to be drivers of construction productivity in Victoria, New South Wales and Western Australia. These findings are important since these three states collectively account for a majority of construction activity in Australia.