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NBS Technical Note 1172

Productivity

Measurement for the

Construction Industry

IGU

. U5753

1172

1963

NATIONAL BUREAU OF STANDARDS

The National Bureau of Standards' was established by an act ot Congress on March 3, 1901.

The Bureau's overall goal is to strengthen and advance the Nation's science and technology

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and technological services for industry and government, (3) a technical basis for equity in

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formed by the National Measurement Laboratory, the National Engineering Laboratory, and

the Institute for Computer Sciences and Technology.

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HATIONAL BUREAUOF STANDARDS

UERApy

fi'^5 ftrJJ^CtfJ i^^ APR 8 1983

fir

Productivity IVIeasurement for the

Construction industry,\ i

.

Stephen F. Weber

Barbara C. Lippiatt

Center for Applied Mathematics

National Engineering Laboratory

l^tional Bureau of Standards

Washington, DC 20234

Prepared for:

Center for Building Technology

National Bureau of Standards

Washington, DC 20234

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE, Malcolm Baldrige, Secretary

NATIONAL BUREAU OF STANDARDS, Ernest Ambler, Director

Issued February 1983

National Bureau of Standards Technical Note 1 1 72

Natl. Bur. Stand. (U.S.), Tech. Note 1 172, 39 pages (Feb. 1983)

CODEN: NBTNAE

U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICEWASHINGTON: 1983

For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, DC 20402Price $4.50

(Add 25 percent for other than U.S. mailing)

ABSTRACT

The fundamental concept underlying all productivity measures is a comparison ofthe output of a production process, an enterprise, an industry, or an economy

with the corresponding factors of production (inputs) required to genera;te thatoutput. Productivity measures are formulated as a ratio of output to one ormore of the inputs. This report evaluates alternative productivity measuresand concludes that the comprehensive Total Factor Productivity (TFP) method ispreferred to the Single Factor Productivity method. To combine the multiplecomponents in the denominator of a TFP index, a weighting system based on rela-tive factor cost shares is recommended. A measurable index of the instantaneousrate of change in TFP between two time periods is derived from a general produc-tion function. The report also investigates the specific data requirements forimplementing this TFP measure in the construction industry. An annotatedbibliography is included.

Key words: construction industry; economics; index; input; output; productivitymeasurement; single factor productivity; total factor productivity.

iii

PREFACE

This research was funded by the NBS Center for Building Technology. The authorswish to thank Michael Boehtn for his assistance in searching for literature onproductivity. Philip Schoech of Laurits R. Christensen Associates, Inc. deservesthanks for his advice on methods of quantifying inputs and outputs for measuringindustry productivity. Through their comments and helpful suggestions, thefollowing NBS reviewers contributed significantly to this final report: RobertChapman, James Gross, Harold Marshall, Mary Natrella, Fred Ruddair, and RichardWright.

iv

TABLE OF CONTENTSPage

ABSTRACT iiiPREFACE ^ iv

LIST OF TABLES vi

1

.

INTRODUCTION 1

2. COMPONENTS OF PRODUCTIVITY INDEXES 2

2 .

1

OUTPUT 22.2 LABOR INPUT 32.3 MATERIALS INPUT 32.4 CAPITAL INPUT 3

3. SINGLE FACTOR PRODUCTIVITY MEASUREMENT 6

3.1 CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY STATISTICS 63.1.1 Productivity Indexes 63.1.2 Labor and Materials Requirements Studies 8

3.2 LIMITATIONS OF SINGLE FACTOR PRODUCTIVITY MEASURES 8

4. TOTAL FACTOR PRODUCTIVITY MEASUREMENT 12

4 .

1

MEASUREMENT METHOD 124.2 APPLICATION TO CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRIES 15

APPENDIX: ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY ON PRODUCTIVITY MEASUREMENT A-1

A.l PRODUCTIVITY MEASUREMENT METHODS A-1A. 2 PRODUCTIVITY IN THE CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY A-4A. 3 PRODUCTIVITY MEASUREMENT CASE STUDIES A-9

LIST OF TABLES

Page3.1 Annual Index Values for Output per Employee Hour in the U.S.

Construction Industry, 1947-1979 (1967 = 100) 7

3.2 Annual Rates of Growth for Output per Employee Hour in the U.S.Construction Industry, by Beginning and Ending Year of Period,1947-1979 (Percent) 9

3.3 Single Factor Productivity Measurement: An Illustration 11

4.1 Hypothetical Industry Data for Two Time Periods 14

4.2 Hypothetical Data on Output and Input Quantities, Input Prices,and Cost Shares of an Industry for Two Time Periods 16

4.3 Data Available in the 1977 Census of Construction 17

4.4 Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) Titles for ConstructionIndustries 19

vi

1 . INTRODUCTION

This report sununarlzes the results of an investigation into methods formeasuring productivity and their application to the U.S. construction industry.The fundamental concept underlying all productivity measures is a comparison ofthe output of a production process, an industry, or an economy with the corre-sponding factors of production (inputs) required to generate that output. Theoutput and inputs of production thus constitute the basic components of everyproductivity measure. Typically, productivity measures are formulated as aratio of output to one or more of the inputs. Methods of deriving quantitativemeasures of these output and input components of productivity indexes arediscussed in section 2. If only one of the inputs is used in the denominator,then the ratio is a single factor productivity measure. A common example ofthis type of measure is output per labor hour. Single factor productivitymeasures will be discussed in section 3. If all of the inputs are used, thenthe r^tio is a total factor productivity measure. The main problem in develop-ing a total factor productivity ratio concerns the proper weighting system touse when combining the individual input components into an index to serve asthe denominator. In section 4, a mathematical model of the production process-is used to develop the theoretically appropriate weighting system for combininginput components. In addition to discussing these two basic types of produc-tivity measures and their application t