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The aim of this study is to measure the impact of the factors affecting construction labor productivity by focusing on different types of construction works during and after the COVID-19 pandemic in Turkey, as well as discuss solutions and immediate actions.

This research was conducted in two steps. First, a quantitative survey was carried out to determine the dimension of factors negatively affecting construction labor productivity and the loss rate of different construction works from the employee perspective. The factors were identified through a literature review. The crucial relationships were highlighted as a result of a statistical analysis. Second, a survey was performed to determine the loss rate through a comparison of man-hour values before and after the beginning of the pandemic from the employer perspective. After an analysis and comparison of the results, semi-structured interviews were performed to discuss all findings and discover ways to mitigate the impacts of COVID-19 on construction labor productivity.

The results of the study clearly show that construction labor productivity was deeply affected by the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. Legal obligations, such as social distancing, wearing masks, and limitations on the number of workers, have been major drivers for lower labor productivity. Such obligations have a profound impact on interior construction works, especially based on teamwork. Concerning employer and labor-related factors, problems with getting payments on time, loss of income, and financial hardships are the leading factors resulting in decreased worker performance. Excavation, insulation, and plastering works were determined as the most affected construction works under the influence of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The quantitative portion of this study is limited to a sample of respondents in the Turkish construction industry. Further research is necessary to provide an in-depth review into construction labor productivity in other countries with a larger respondent sample. Another limitation is sourced by the dynamics of the COVID-19 pandemic, which may turn out that some findings are outdated. Despite these limitations, the insights from this study may enable employers to understand the major drivers and deep impacts of labor productivity loss by uncovering the main vulnerabilities during the pandemic. Recommended measures may also help policy-makers and stakeholders in the construction industry take necessary and immediate actions to ensure better construction labor productivity.

The study may contribute to a better understanding of a pandemic's impact on labor productivity by focusing on both employee and employer perspectives, especially in developing countries. The paper may help employers decide which priority measures are required for each construction work separately. The study is crucial not only for minimizing the negative effects of the COVID-19 outbreak on labor productivity but also for preparing for the post-pandemic era.

This paper aims to model different causal relations among factors interacting with labour productivity in order to recognize the most important factors influencing and influenced by it.

Top 60 factors affecting labour productivity were determined and grouped into 5 major groups by reviewing previous research and interviewing relevant experts. The interactions of factors were modelled using system dynamics (SD) approach. The resulting causal loop diagrams obtained from SD were then applied for identifying the most crucial factors influencing and influenced by labour productivity through the decision-making trial and evaluation laboratory (DEMATEL) method. The impact of factors on each other was finally determined based on the opinions of 63 experts selected from the Iranian construction industry.

The results indicated that factors such as fatigue, lack of labour motivation and lack of skill are the most influencing, and factors such as schedule delay and inflation in the cost of execution are the most influenced by labour productivity. In the end, a set of recommendations to improve construction labour productivity was also presented.

The main contribution of the study is proposing a novel method which is capable of providing insights into how causes and effects of construction labour productivity are interrelated. Furthermore, the proposed method makes this study distinct from previous research in the light of prioritizing factors and offering recommendations according to the interrelationships among factors.

As the construction industry undertakes complex and innovative projects, improving the labor productivity that helps accomplish the triple bottom line dimensions (time, schedule and performance) assumes greater importance. It is of even greater importance in developing countries like India where most of building construction takes place on a manual basis. In response, the purpose of this paper is to develop an evaluation framework for assessing the labor productivity in the construction industry. The application of the framework is demonstrated for the case of the Indian construction industry and key insights are reported.

The literature review and expert survey has helped to identify 4 main dimensions and 14 different factors affecting labor productivity in the construction industry. An application of Decision-Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory was deployed to investigate into the causality of labor productivity dimensions.

The research delivers a quantitative labor productivity assessment framework for evaluating causal relationships among the factors influencing labor productivity in the construction industry. The result obtained for a typical case of the Indian construction industry showed that the safety at construction site has a profound effect on labor-related factors.

The paper makes two contributions in the domain of labor productivity assessment in the construction industry. First, it proposes an evaluation framework to investigate into the causal relationships among the labor productivity factors. This proposed framework is robust and can be used to compare the performance of different construction projects using an integrated approach proposed by this research. Such exploratory analysis would assist benchmarking studies. Second, it undertakes an empirical investigation for the Indian construction industry to develop key managerial insights and extend policy-related recommendations.

The objective of this paper is to investigate the effects and relative influence of: grid patterns; variability of foundation sizes; total surface area; and average surface area, on formwork labour productivity of isolated foundations.

To achieve this objective, a sufficiently large volume of productivity data were collected and analyzed at both levels; macro, and micro, using the linear regression method. As a result, the effects and relative influence of the investigated factors on formwork labour productivity are determined and quantified.

The findings show significant impacts of the buildability factors investigated on formwork labour productivity, and substantiate the importance of applying the rationalization and standardization concepts to the design stage of construction projects.

Further research into the effects of buildability factors on formwork, and other related trades of in situ reinforced concrete material, i.e. rebar fixing/installation and concreting, labour productivity, which are common to other structural elements and activities such as, grade/ground beams, columns, walls, beams, and slabs, is recommended, so that the related findings can ultimately be used to develop an automated “Buildability Design Support System” to formalize the buildability knowledge of reinforced concrete construction projects.

The outcomes of this research provide designers with feedback on how well their designs consider the requirements of buildability principles, and the tangible consequences of their decisions on labour productivity. In addition, practical recommendations deduced from the findings are presented, which upon implementation, can improve the buildability level of this activity, hence translate into higher labour efficiency and lower labour costs. On the other hand, the depicted patterns may provide guidance to construction managers for effective activity planning and efficient labour utilization.

The findings fill a gap in buildability knowledge and its influence on formwork labour productivity of an important, labour intensive, activity within the in situ reinforced concrete construction projects.

This study aims to identify systematically the factors that can often influence labour productivity directly and indirectly, to build a model that can evaluate the significance of these factors. The model can be used as a tool for assisting field construction mangers responsible for productivity.

The factors were first identified by undertaking a literature review. The scope and method for measuring labour productivity were then determined. The final analysis model was built through a statistical analysis conducted with the chosen factors.

The results of the analysis indicate that the work management component (e.g. the manager's abilities) and the work technique component (e.g. work continuity) have greater impact than the worker component (e.g. the workers' capability) and the work characteristic component (e.g. work difficulty).

This research focuses on the qualitative perspective of site managers on labour productivity. Although the process of translating qualitative opinions into quantitative data is a matter for debate, the result of this research, when compared to other quantitative studies, can be used to establish a strategy and an action plan for managing labour productivity.

Qualitative aspects that were considered to establish a labour productivity model can be evaluated by site construction managers. Despite the importance of these qualitative aspects, they have, by and large, been neglected, as models to date tend to consider more directly measurable quantitative factors. In particular, they can be used to develop a strategy for increasing labour productivity at the initial planning stage.

This research explores the differences between a subjective perception and the objective reality of labour productivity.

In this chapter, using a combination of long-run and sign restrictions to identify aggregate monetary and productivity factors, I find that the monetary factor is responsible for long swings in nominal variables but has little effect on fluctuations in output, real wage, or labor input growth. The productivity factor in addition to increasing output growth and real wage growth in the short and long run, also results in increases in labor input and decreases in prices, but the quantitative effect of the productivity factor on labor input is relatively small. These results are robust to the number of factors included in the model and to alternative priors about the short-run effects of the monetary factor, and to the inclusion of oil prices. Oil prices, in fact, appear to be largely driven by the other aggregate factors.

Proper prediction of productivity can enable the enhanced estimation, realistic scheduling, and accurate cost forecasting of construction processes. Due to the existence of different labor sources (unionized and non-unionized), the prediction of productivity is still a significant problem in India. Moreover, the construction procurement processes and on-site performance are the predominant elements that can result in improved project outcomes. Thereby, the consideration of labor constraints and site conditions will play an important role in productivity improvement.

This study investigates the factors affecting construction site productivity. A total of 28 factors are grouped under 7 categories as follows: labor constraints, safety and quality procurements, material and equipment (ME), site management, project working condition, delay controls, construction methods and techniques, and external factors. Furthermore, by involving these factors, the questionnaire survey was conducted among Indian construction practitioners. As a result, 204 responses were received and the data were analyzed using a reliability test, relative importance index (RII), and analysis of variance (ANOVA).

The result of this study highlighted the importance of strategic construction management activities in terms of effective planning of ME, planning and realistic scheduling of construction activities, proper communication, information sharing, etc. Thus, this study provides a clear insight to the Indian construction practitioners in determining the effect of these site factors on the successful execution of their projects.

In this paper, the problem of construction productivity in India and its causes are explained effectively. This study examines the preference of labor contract, labor source, and most importantly, the factors affecting site productivity. Moreover, the other lagging issues regarding the management of construction activities are also described in detail.

The study aims at identifying the factors affecting labor productivity in building construction projects in the West Bank in Palestine from contractors’ viewpoint.

To do so, 59 contractors working in building construction completed a structured questionnaire survey and the factors were ranked according to their levels of influence. In all, 31 factors were identified through literature review. These factors were grouped into five groups: labor, managerial, materials and equipments, environmental, and financial.

The analysis of the identified 31 factors indicates that the top-five factors negatively affecting labor productivity in building construction are: rework, lack of cooperation and communication between construction parties, financial status of the owner, lack of labor experience, and lack in materials.

This study is original and has not been published before. The findings and recommendations of this study are very useful and helpful for the local firms and the international firms who are planning to do works in the West Bank

This paper aims to examine whether rewards incentives of non-state-owned enterprises can settle the matters of motivation lack, strained labor relations and frequent labor-capital conflicts and realize co-win cooperation of workers, enterprises and the society.

Based on the data of 1,617 questionnaires in 257 enterprises, this research reveals the total rewards factors that affect the labor motivation of non-stated-owned enterprises in China and improve labor productivity by adopting the hierarchical linear regression analysis and multi-group path analysis, and establishes a new model of win-win cooperation between labor and capital and the society through the incentive function of these elements by stimulating the enthusiasm of workers, improving labor productivity, increasing profits, expanding capital accumulation and absorbing labor force.

The authors have discovered that in general the main incentives that stimulate the enthusiasm of employees are the factors of performance and recognition and development and career opportunity in total rewards. The factor of benefits also has a significant incentive effect on employees in the western area of China, migrant workers with lower education and male employees, but negative effect on the post-1990s employees in non-state-owned enterprises. However, the compensation factor should be used with caution when encouraging employees in eastern region and the post-1980s. The total rewards factors of development and career opportunities and the performance and the recognition and benefits should be used to motivate workers to improve labor productivity, increase corporate profits and absorb more labor force, which is a long-term solution to win-win cooperation between labor and capital and social sustainable development. It is an important way to increase profits and absorb more labor force by increasing employee’s human capital investment and improving labor proficiency of employees under age 45. The conclusions provide new effective management methods for non-state-owned enterprises in China.

As a consequence, it will encourage employees to improve labor productivity and increase profits and thus absorb more labor force, if we use these factors of performance and recognition, development and career opportunity and benefits integratedly, we will find a permanent solution that the two sides of the labor and management and the society enjoy a win-win cooperation.

The research will provide theoretical basis for non-state-owned enterprises to apply a new and effective management style so that we can establish a win-win cooperation between the labor and management. What’s more, the research will develop the Dual Economy Theory of Lewis and the employment theory of Keynes and will also provide a theoretical basis for the realization of Taylor’s harmonious industrial relations.

The purpose of this paper is to present a hybrid simulation approach for predicting the value of labor productivity taking account of various continuous influencing factors and the interactions between different agents involved in the project.

The various continuous factors affecting labor productivity are simulated using system dynamics (SD). The heterogeneity of different agents involved in the project and their interactions is accounted using agent-based modelling (ABM). The developed ABM and SD models are finally integrated to simulate the value of labor productivity taking account of all the influencing factors.

The proposed hybrid simulation tool is implemented in a real project to evaluate its perfomance. The value of labor productivity is simulated by taking account of all the influencing factors. The most appropriate execution strategy is then selected using the developed hybrid SD-ABM approach to improve productivity. It is shown that the number of working groups and their movement patterns affect the severity of the groups’ interferences which will in turn affect the value of labor productivity.

This research helps project managers to predict and improve the value of labor productivity taking account of all the influencing factors.

It is believed that the proposed hybrid SD-ABM simulation approach offers a novel and robust tool for modeling labor productivity because the effects of various continuous influencing factors and the interactions between different agents are taken into account through the combination of SD and ABM. Many complex problems faced in construction projects involve interacting elements of a different nature, and the integration of SD with ideas from ABM offers potential to combine the strengths of the two methodologies to solve the problem.