QUESTION 3
‘Labour productivity in the construction sector is dependent upon the quantity and quality of resources employed.’ Explain this statement.
Labour economics is most concerned with studying the labour force as one of the prime elements in the process of production. Productivity is the measurement of efficiency, and it is figured by calculating the quantity of goods produced by the quantity of resources, labour and capital that are required to produce them. Some of the resources are more difficult to quantify than others. For example, labour can be easily quantified by counting the number of workers and man hours utilized on a project, and capital outlay expenses are fairly easy to track.
More difficult to figure out are increases in productivity due to factors like increased efficiency of the labour market as employees become more skilled, or utilize better equipment or other resources to improve their efficiencies in the workplace. In industrialized countries, increased efficiency is also seen as economic development; specifically as technology enables surges in efficiency. We can look back on Europe or the United States after developments of steam power, the railroad or the gas motor and see majour advancements in productivity. Likewise, innovations in the 20th century, most notably the assembly line and computers, have lead to huge increases in productivity.
A number of factors affect the productivity ratio in construction; labour force, processes, quality and external influences. The quantity and quality of resources utilized has a direct result on productivity. Utilizing the highest quality equipment, best supplies and most skilled workers will certainly produce better results in a shorter period of time than ...
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Chapter 19 of Liberty, Equality, and Power, asks what the most significant ways in which the ongoing struggle between capital and labor reshaped American society during the late 19th century (Murrin, 523). In response, one of the most important contributions was the introduction of new technologies utilized primarily in factories. This in turn lead to the revolutionizing of production lines, and corporations. This domino effect continued on to spur the birth of unions in the United States, who organized rebellions against corporate power still used today. Finally during this time women underwent a transformation of their civil rights, as well as their role in society.
John sits at home each night with his wife and two children and watches the news. He listens as experts on the economy tell him that the economy is growing and that the GDP is growing. He wonders how this can be, because he lost his job months ago and has not been able to find work since. Has the very country that John lives in moved on and left him behind? This is the question that many Americans are asking themselves, and many more will be soon. In the 1960s and early 90s productivity in America increased by record amounts. The nation was prospering, people had jobs, and they were spending their money. All of this was done by simple government intervention. Now America is looking at another rise in productivity, but this time it may be a little bit different unless the government takes the proper steps.
In the equation above it the product of K and P that is responsible for economic growth. It would appear then that K, the ratio of productive to unproductive labor, and P, the productivity rate are equally important factors in this determinance. However, Smith says that this is not so. The ratio of productive to unproductive labor does not change much over time, says Smith.
It was said that once-in-a-century advances in technology are transforming our economy. The computer chip is doing for today's knowledge economy what electricity did for our industrial economy a century ago. Synergies in technology are driving acceleration in productivity growth that enables us to grow faster with less inflation. Economic progress is speeding up; the speed limit is rising. “Real GDP growth has averaged 4 percent for the past four years, with declining inflation. This almost doubles the 2 percent to 2.5 percent not long ago considered the maximum noninflationary potential. But we've been growing faster than potential and sustaining the unsustainable for four years and counting. Sounds odd, doesn't it? Our faster output growth is based primarily on faster productivity growth and secondarily on faster labor force growth”. Productivity growth now appears to be at least 2.5 percent and rising. An increase from 1 percent to 2.5 percent is an increase of 150 percent, a huge jump with profound implications if sustained. Last year was encouraging. Productivity raised over 3 percent for the year and over 5 percent in the second half. It was said that the United States entered the 21st century with its economy on a roll. GDP growth averaged more than 3 percent a year in the 1990s. The country created 17 million jobs, driving unemployment down to a 30-year low of 4.1 percent. In the 1999-2000 the economy wasn’t doing so bad the unemployment rate was down, there were more jobs available, and production was doing well. When 2001 stated and even before then the economy was going down, many people were being laid off and so on. Then it happened the September 11th attack on the US, this attack has left the
Construction industries are classified largely which comprise of skillful employee and general workers. As opined by Cassidy (2006), these are intrinsically demanding, hazar...
Every year there is a ‘league table‘ published showing the level of economic growth achieved by each country. The comparison is made using each countries Gross Domestic Product, or GDP. An important factor to look at is the difference between actual and potential economic growth. Actual economic growth increases in real GDP. This increase can occur as result of using previously unemployed resources, or reallocating resources into more productive areas or improving existing resources. Whereas potential economic growth is the productive capacity of the economy. For example, it can be shown by the predicted ability of the country to produce goods and services. This changes when there is an increase in the quantity or quality of the resources. All countries have different ways of achieving this with the resources they have available to them. For this reason it party answers the question of why some countries are richer than others. It is widely thought that the productive capacity of an economy will increase each year largely due to improvements in education and technology. This will obviously differ from country to country. For example, in the UK the quality of fertilizer could be improved, hence forth increase the years fruit and vegetable output.
Growth in labour productivity is important because it is associated with economic growth, standards of living, and real incomes. It is another useful tool that we can use to compare the welfare and growth of countries. Labour productivity measures the amount of Real GDP produced by an hour of labour. Increases in labour productivity can occur from increases in the amount of machines and equipment available to workers, a higher proportion of skilled workers, increases in plant scale, changes in organizational structure, and improvements in technology (1).
Productivity is the quantity of output formed by one unit of production input in a unit of time. Inputs used in the production of the goods and services are the major determinants of any country’s productivity they are also called factors of production. There are four major determinants of productivity of any country’s economy.
It is common knowledge that in order for an organization to thrive, there must be labor productivity. In conjunction, for the efficiency in companies to be on a high level,
The factors of production are the inputs in any production process. The completed goods are what result from the process, also often called raw and finished goods. The more factors of production are given as input the higher the number of completed goods will be, and of course the opposite is just as true. The typical factors of production are Land, Labor and capital goods. more recently Entrepeneurship has also been added as one of these factors. Understanding these is essential to understanding the two production functions which this WIKI article focuses on. (2)
This paper explores what it takes to be a construction manager and the responsibilities of being a construction manager and the skills that a construction manager should have. It also explores what good construction managers do to have success on their construction projects and the steps that a construction manager must follow to end a project and meet their deadlines at the same
Theoretical model of modern economic growth shows that long-term economic growth and raise the level of per capita income depends on technological progress. This is because of without technological progress and with the increase of capital per capita, marginal returns of capital would diminish and output per capita growth would eventually stagnate (Solow, 1956; Swan, 1956). Studies have shown that “experience, skills and knowledge in the long-term economic growth is playing an increasingly important role” (World Bank, 1999). Despite how technological progress work on economic growth, and how there are different views on the role of in the end, but I am afraid no one would deny that technical progress in the important role of economic development. In this sense, for a country to achieve long-term economic growth, we must continue to promote technological progress. However, economic growth theory is analyzed in general, and usually under the assumption that in the closed economy, and technological progress in a country not normally have taken place in various departments at the same time, and now the economy are often increasingly open economy. In this way, the technological progress in different economic impact on a country may be quite different. In addition, we assume that technological progress is Hicks neutral, is to an industry in itself, but technological progress also reflects the establishment of new industries and development. The new industries and technology-intensive industries generally older than the high, the use of less labor. Even the old industries, the general trend of technological progress is labor-saving.
Construction is one of the most dangerous works during this era. The advanced technologies are to be utilized in the construction work but still it is not really safe work. Many of the human beings are now involved in the construction work. It is one of the most typical working fields. Most of the persons who have lack of knowledge, degree and skills join the construction teams in order to earn living. It is said that most of the workers related to the construction industry are not really well educated. This becomes that major cause of their less focus on the work. This proved sometimes very critical condition. One of the most important things in this regard is that workers sometimes not really work with taking great care.
Labor makes up a huge portion of the construction project cost and the size of the labor hours by performing a task in construction is more vulnerable to the impact of management of material. The productivity measure is often stated to as labor productivity. It is very significant to note that labor productivity is a measure of the overall success of a functioning structure in applying labor hour, equipment and investment to change labor efforts to grater production, and is not a quantity of the proficiencies of labor by itself. For example, by investing in new equipment and technology to perform certain tasks in construction project. The productivity should be increased for the same amount of labor hours, and will also increase in higher labor productivity. According to Yogendra Kumar “Summary of work sampling shows proportions. Main reason for higher no-work component is in-appropriate crew size ratio of skilled and unskilled workers. Higher indirect work component for some trades is due to inaccurate methodology and project layout” (Kumar,
Economic development is a term that economists, politicians, and others have used frequently since the 20th Century. The concept, however, has been in existence in the West for centuries. The term refers to economic growth accompanied by changes in output distribution and economic structure. It is concerned with quality improvements, the introduction of new goods and services, risk mitigation and the dynamics of innovation and entrepreneurship.