Lavinia Mastac, Gabriela Draghici, Cosmin Filip, Adrian Ghencea, Christian Rust
DOI: 10.2478/ouacsce-2025-0003
Pages 19 – 33
Abstract – This study investigates differences in construction labor productivity across European regions and subsectors using data from 2022. Labor productivity is defined as turnover per employee. Focusing on 28 European countries, we compare the construction subsectors of Building Construction, Civil Engineering, and Specialized Construction Activities, across four broad regions (Western, Northern, Southern, Eastern Europe). A two-way ANOVA reveals statistically significant productivity differences both by subsector and by region. Building and civil engineering firms exhibit higher average productivity than specialized construction firms. Additionally, countries in Western and Northern Europe outperform those in Eastern and Southern Europe in productivity levels. A significant interaction effect is also observed. The subsector productivity gaps vary in magnitude across regions (although the pattern of Specialized being the lowest-productivity subsector is consistent in most regions). These findings highlight structural disparities in Europe’s construction sector, with implications for targeted workforce development and investment policies to address the productivity gap.
Keywords – construction sector; labor productivity; Europe; subsectors; regional differences; ANOVA
