Interesting; how is productivity measured in this context? Australian home building prices are relatively low I would have thought compared to other developed economies because of the efficiency of the cottage building industry here, made up of small independent contractors. In the UK, where a high % of homes are built by a small number of large companies, homes are smaller and more expensive than here.
Thanks, I’d be interested if their various hypotheses held true if smaller project home builders were compared to larger project home builders, that is, businesses playing in the same space? There seems to be a mix of businesses and a mix of dwellings in the research. BI’d also be interested in how the Productivity Commission accounted for the differences over time in size and quality of dwellings? They must have figured out a way of comparing apples with tractors.
Interesting; how is productivity measured in this context? Australian home building prices are relatively low I would have thought compared to other developed economies because of the efficiency of the cottage building industry here, made up of small independent contractors. In the UK, where a high % of homes are built by a small number of large companies, homes are smaller and more expensive than here.
Hi Guy. Here is a link to the research they are looking at the ABS’ productivity measures for production. The basic findings are that the prevalence of small businesses mean we are less productive because they can’t afford to invest in things that enhance productivity and can’t utilise economies of scale like larger businesses can. https://www.ceda.com.au/researchandpolicies/research/workforce-skills/size-matters-why-construction-productivity-is-so-weak
Thanks, I’d be interested if their various hypotheses held true if smaller project home builders were compared to larger project home builders, that is, businesses playing in the same space? There seems to be a mix of businesses and a mix of dwellings in the research. BI’d also be interested in how the Productivity Commission accounted for the differences over time in size and quality of dwellings? They must have figured out a way of comparing apples with tractors.