Measuring the competitiveness of the UK construction industry

This research provides a sector competitiveness analysis of the UK construction industry. The study investigates the relative position (in terms of labour productivity levels and rates of change) of the UK construction industry compared to the construction industries of France, Germany and the USA. A comparison is also made with vehicle production and repair in the UK. In summary, within the constraints / limits of the currently available data, the headline finding suggests that the labour productivity level of the UK is relatively poor compared to the three other countries studied, especially the USA and France. In addition, it finds similar (negligible) rates of productivity growth in all four countries, for the period 1992 to 2001. The main weaknesses in the data concern the definition of industrial classifications within the construction industry, missing data and problems concerning comparative price levels (PPPs), price indices and measures of labour input.