TY  - RPRT
        AU  - Paul, Saumik
AU  - Sen, Kunal
        TI  - Construction Productivity and Income Convergence
        PY  - 2026/Feb/
        PB  - Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)
        CY  - Bonn
        T2  - IZA Discussion Paper
        IS  - 18377
        UR  - https://www.iza.org/publications/dp18377
        AB  - This paper examines the implications of heterogeneity in construction productivity on cross-country income disparity. Using a sample of 168 countries, we estimate the 10:1 spread in construction productivity as a factor of 49-fold in 2017. The construction productivity gap falls by 46 percent when production networks are incorporated in the development accounting framework. Based on counterfactual analysis, the elimination of cross-country disparity in construction productivity lowers the 10:1 spread in GDP per capita by 55 percent. Variations in both the intermediates share of construction output and complementarity in intermediate inputs across countries drive the aggregate effects of construction productivity shock.
        KW  - productivity
KW  - construction
KW  - intersectoral network
KW  - income disparity
        ER  -