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A Refined Basket Of Goods Approach For Comparing Construction Costs Between Countries, Rick Best

Rick Best

Most comparisons of construction industry performance require that construction costs be converted to a common base. Existing mechanisms for such conversions produce unreliable results. A proposed method for producing industry-specific conversion factors was tested using a single building type. A basket of materials and labour was identified and weighted to reflect the cost share of each item in a completed project. Prices for the basket were gathered in three cities and simple construction specific conversion indices were calculated based on the construction purchasing power of each currency. The construction purchasing power parities (CPPPs) showed marked differences from other available conversion …