Construction and economic development

Abstract During the 1960s and 1970s, construction was seen as a possible leading sector for LDCs to modernise their economies. The basis for this view was an alleged correlation between construction output and national income. By the 1980s, it was realised that increasing construction output may face severe structural and supply constraints. The purpose of this paper is to subject both the modernisation and structuralist views to close scrutiny by considering the role of construction in Singapore's colonial and post-colonial economic development. The main findings are: (a) the alleged correlation between construction and economic development may not hold because part of the construction output may represent a misallocation of resources; (b) the supply-side constraints may have been exaggerated; and (c) both views downplay the crucial role of class structure and the manner in which a country is integrated into global capitalism in accounting for the level of construction output.

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