Ranko Bon

The future of international construction: Secular patterns of growth and decline

Abstract This paper discusses the changing role of the construction sector at various stages of economic growth and development. It argues that construction activity follows the bell-shaped pattern of development of the manufacturing sector, its primary supplier and the old engine of economic growth. Although the construction technology is shifting towards the service sector, the new engine of economic growth, the construction sector remains technologically less dynamic than other major economic sectors. The paper also discusses broad patterns of international trade in construction services and materials. It argues that less developed countries may play an increasingly significant role in international trade as global construction activity shifts to these countries from the advanced industrial countries with abundant physical capital already in place.

Historical comparison of construction sectors in the United States, Japan, Italy and Finland using input-output tables

This paper uses the input-output tables compiled since World War II in four advanced industrial countries - United States, Japan, Italy, and Finland - to analyse the role of construction in their economies. Several questions are discussed: How does the construction sector interact with other sectors of the economy? How does this interaction change over time? How does it differ from country to country? The paper first briefly introduces the input-output data and the indicators used for comparative analysis. For reasons of space, the historical values of these indicators are presented only in graphical form. Next, the paper compares the construction sector in the four countries in terms of their shares in gross national product and national income, direct and total backward and forward linkage indicators, and direct and total inputs from manufacturing and service sectors. Special attention is paid to changes in construction technology, that is, changes in the relative shares of manufacturing and service sec...

Corporate Real Estate Management

Outlines brief concepts of corporate real estate management. Shows that this is oriented towards major clients of building services. Concludes that the intelligence technology needed for this is already available in most organizations and all areas, from research to corporate management teams up to senior executives, must have support to carry out the required work in this area.

Comparative stability analysis of demand-side and supply-side input-output models

Abstract This paper presents the results of a comparison of technical coefficient stability in demand-side and supply-side input-output models using a seven-sector aggregation of the 1947, 1958, 1963, 1967, 1972, and 1977 U.S. input-output tables. Sectoral and total output forecasts of the two models, generated with known final demand and value added figures from all subsequent tables, are compared to known output figures. Although the demand-side model performs somewhat better in terms of total output forecasts, the supply-side model provides better forecasts for a larger number of sectors. This analysis suggests that both models should be used in order to determine the extent to which an economy or a sector are demand- or supply-driven.

An input–output analysis of the Italian construction sector, 1959–1988

This paper employs two sets of input–output tables to analyse the role of the Italian construction sector in the national economy. The paper focuses on changes in construction technology over a period of some 30 years. A set of seven-sector input-output tables is used to show the weakening of the construction sectors effect on the economy as a whole. This trend is probably caused by the transformation of the Italian economy as a whole rather than by a loss of efficiency of the construction sector. As expected, the achieved maturity of the Italian economy is accompanied by the growing importance of maintenance and repair construction (M&R) because of the ageing building infrastructure. Another set of 23-sector input–output tables is used to analyse the input and output profiles of the construction industry, by selecting key supplying industries. Significant differences are reported in the technology of the sector with a shift toward services and away from manufacturing inputs. Finally, the main findings a...

Comparative Stability Analysis of Multiregional Input-Output Models: Column, Row, and Leontief-Strout Gravity Coefficient Models

This paper provides the necessary and sufficient conditions on the regional trade matrices that ensure that a generalized multiregional input-output (MRIO) model will be convergent. The three MRIO models are examined using the above conditions, and it is demonstrated that the Chenery-Moses column coefficient model satisfies them, whereas the opposite is true of the row coefficient and Leontief-Strout point-estimate gravity coefficient models. This evaluation of the three MRIO models confirms the results of empirical testing.

New construction versus maintenance and repair construction technology in the US since World War II

This paper employs seven input-output tables in the comparative study of long-term changes in new and maintenance and repair (M&R) construction technology in the US from 1947 to 1982. The 1982 table was made available in 1991. Input-output analysis is used to show the differences between direct and total input requirements of the two subsectors. Significant differences are reported in terms of backward linkage indicators and output multipliers, as well as direct and total requirements from the key industries supplying the two construction subsectors. As the share of M&R construction in total construction continues to increase, these differences in technology employed by the two subsectors will have an important effect on the national economy as a whole.

Regional development and construction in Italy: an input-output analysis, 1959-1992

Using two sets of input-output tables, this paper analyses the role of the construction sector in the North and South regions of Italy, from 1959 to 1992. As expected, the sector has had differing impacts on the two regional economies over the years. In the highly developed North its importance has been declining, similarly to the case of other highly developed countries. In the less developed South, instead, construction has a relatively higher propulsive role in the creation of goods and income. This role is significantly diminished since most of the construction inputs are imported. Some differences are reported in the sectors input and output profiles of the two regions. From the technological and organizational points of view, in the South construction projects appear to be less complex than those in the North.

Some new evidence of old trends: Japanese construction, 1960-1990

Using the seven input-output tables compiled in Japan to date, this paper extends earlier analysis by adding the analysis of 1985 and 1990 tables. This paper shows that the Japanese construction sectors share in GNP has declined since 1980; the GNP share of manufacturing is continuing to decline and that of services is continuing to grow; the economy-wise effect of construction activity is continuing to decline; and the construction inputs from manufacturing are continuing to decline whereas the sectors inputs from services are continuing to grow. All these are signs of a growing ‘maturity’ of the Japanese economy, which in this regard appears to follow the path of other advanced industrial countries.

Ten Principles of Corporate Real Estate Management

Offers a distillation of the central principles of corporate real estate management into ten concise points covering – inter alia – matching business and property strategies, monitoring property performance and integrating the physical, financial and organizational aspects of corporate real estate management.