Relationship between Changes in Material Technology and Construction Productivity

Abstract

There have been substantial changes in both material technology and construction productivity over the past several decades. By analyzing the changes in both material technology and productivity among 100 construction activities from 1977 to 2004, this research examines the strength and types of relationships that exist within these two occurrences. Through analysis of variance (ANOVA) and regression analyses, the researchers found that activities experiencing significant changes in material technology have also experienced substantially greater long-term improvements in both their labor and partial factor productivity. The research did find that a stronger relationship exists between changes in material technology and partial factor productivity than in labor productivity. The research also found that changes in the unit weight of materials had a significant relationship to labor productivity, while changes in installation and modularity had a significant relationship to partial factor productivity. The research findings will help industry practitioners to better understand how they may leverage technology to improve construction productivity, while also helping researchers understand the theoretical relationships between technology and construction productivity.