The Limited Service Hotel in South Africa: The Growth of City Lodge

A critical competitive strategy for the growth and expansion of large hotel chains is the pursuit of market segmentation. This article investigates one aspect of market segmentation and the restructuring of the South Africa hotel sector, namely the emergence of the limited service hotel. The growth of the limited service hotel segment of the South African hotel industry is analysed through a case study of the strategic development and evolution of City Lodge Hotels which pioneered this market niche in Africa. Close linkages are disclosed between the limited service segment and the growth of business tourism in South Africa’s major urban centres.     

Development of a customer focused strategy in speculative house building

The UK housing industry has been slow to adopt new working practices which have brought improvements in product quality and customer focused operations to many sectors of manufacturing industry. Instead, the dominant business driver has been land and house price inflation, with the market characterized by pronounced boom-and-bust cycles. Reports on the sector often have highlighted the need for research and action aimed at bringing about fundamental changes in its operations, both to satisfy social needs and benefit the companies in the industry. This paper examines the drivers needed for implementing new customer focused business processes in the sector. Of particular importance is the development of a product strategy based on an understanding and analysis of the market. Results are presented from a large market survey that was carried out, and their implications for the industry are discussed.     

住宅全装修是住宅产业现代化推进的重要切入点

伴随着我国房地产业的发展,全装修住宅在市场上的份额逐步加大,与之相应的住宅装修业得到了极为迅速地发展,但住宅装修业不可避免存在不容忽视的问题,亟待从市场管理、产业政策、生产方式上加以完善,真正使住宅全装修成为住宅产业现代化的必由之路.     

Malaysia’s electricity market structure in transition

The Malaysian electricity industry evolved from a vertically integrated utility into a single-buyer model, which considered a precursor to deregulation and a competitive market. This study considers electricity sector reform in Malaysia and proposes a market structure for the industry. We focus on the single-buyer model and the pool model for the analysis with the recommendation on reform stages required to ensure a smooth and successful market transition. A smooth transition from regulated market into deregulated market will ensure market stability and sustainability of the energy market. It will also provide enough time for the market participants to adapt and transit from regulated to deregulated energy market.     

An economic modelling approach for public sector construction workload planning

The effectiveness of public sector construction workload planning can be enhanced through employing an economic modelling approach to predict the impact of different workloads on tender price changes. The main problem associated with existing methods used for predicting tender price index (TPI) for construction projects is a lack of robustness when the market becomes unstable. This is due to limited consideration of market conditions in these methods. An economic modelling approach has been developed and applied for public sector construction workload planning in the States of Guernsey where forward planning was required. The developed model overcomes the problem of existing methods—lack of robustness—by correlating TPI of construction projects to demand over capacity ratio of the industry, which represents the industry's economic condition. The model generates the price changes under different planning options associated with different workloads over a five‐year planning period. The information is valuable to the public sector in estimating actually required investment. This ensures the feasibility of the plan and the possibility of contribution to the stability of the construction market. The model development and application process developed in this research can be used to assist a planning process for an industry where a demand, capacity and price relationship is applied.     

Market structure of the construction industry in Hong Kong

This study examines the market structure of four different sectors within the construction industry in Hong Kong. Market concentrations, expressed in terms of Herfindahl-Hershamann indices (HHIs) and number equivalents (HNEs), are calibrated for the top five contractors and compared with those of the local property industry. The study reveals the following ascending order of market concentrations: private building, public building, property development, and civil engineering. Our explanation is that technological and capital requirements have imposed a strong barrier to entry into the civil engineering sector, resulting in a concentrated market. Conversely, the lack of technological demand and supply in the private building sector has led to easy market entry and exit. Building contractors thus compete intensely on cost reduction rather than technology improvement, leading to poor construction safety and product quality. The paper concludes that the Government, being a major client of construction works and regulator of the industry, can assume a more active role in promoting the overall competitiveness of indigenous local contractors in Hong Kong.     

The changing role of builders merchants in the construction supply chain

Builders merchants are an integral part of the construction industry, yet rarely are they consulted when discussions take place on the future of the construction industry. Throughout history, builders merchants have played a dominant role in the construction industry, initially as an intermediary between the artisan and the buyer, and more recently as a source of working capital for contracting firms. The merchanting industry currently is undergoing considerable change. The depressed construction market and the failure of the housing repair and maintenance sector to recover in the first half of the 1990's as activity in the private non-housing repair and maintenance sector has increased, has raised competition between merchants. The major building merchants are becoming larger by acquisition and merger, the smaller merchants are seeking niche areas, and the medium-size firms are under serious threat from acquisition by the larger merchanting firms. The trend towards consolidation in the sector, driven by the need to reduce costs, has meant that the large merchanting firms now control around 60% of the building materials market sales. Factoring is a growing trend, particularly with smaller companies sourcing goods from the cheapest source. The larger merchants have to respond by sourcing goods from the lowest cost base, irrespective of whether they buy from overseas markets. This paper analyses the UK builders merchants sector and evaluates the important role played in the supply chain.     

北京与上海、江苏、浙江的建筑业集中度对比研究

利用CRn 指数、洛伦兹曲线和基尼系数对北京、上海、浙江、江苏四地的建筑业规模结构进行了对比分析。通过对比发现,北京市建筑业市场集中度的各项指标都优于其他三地。这说明在大型建筑企业所占的市场份额以及建筑企业的大、中、小规模分布合理程度上,北京市均要好于其他三地。同时,就四地不同的建筑业产业规模结构状况的差异进行了分析,发现造成差异的主要原因为四地建筑业地域市场环境以及产业定位的不同。并结合文中的数据和分析,针对北京地区的建筑业发展状况,给出了北京市建筑业进一步发展的相关政策建议。     

The Economic Geography of South Africa’s Hotel Industry 1990–2010

Hotels are a neglected facet in economic and tourism geography as the majority of scholarship on hotels is produced from the perspective of hospitality management. This article examines the changing geography of hotels in South Africa during the period 1990–2010 as part of the country’s expanding tourism economy. The analysis confirms the importance of several locational influences, which have been isolated in existing literature, in particular the significance of spatial patterns of market demand related to international leisure travel, domestic business tourism, and of the hosting of mega-events. Since 1990, the South African hotel industry necessarily has adjusted to new market demands related to the vibrancy of international tourism growth as well as an expansion of domestic tourism including of a new black leisure and business tourism market. By 2010, the hotel industry and its spatial distribution reflects the enormous changes, which have take out place in the South African tourism sector since democratic change. The transformed geography of the hotel industry is a response to changing demands associated with South Africa’s rise as an emerging international leisure and business tourism destination, including for regional visitors from sub-Saharan Africa, the expansion of domestic business tourism, and the shifting domestic leisure tourism market, which incorporates an increasing share of black South African tourists     

Private rented housing in France

This paper reviews the evolution of the French private rented housing sector. It traces post-war policy developments, putting the specific tenure in a wide housing market context. The paper reviews France’s intricate system of personal and property—oriented housing subsidies, and assesses their demand and supply side repercussions. Discussion of the general post-war decline in private rented housing as a means of housing consumption is situated in the evolution of the national housing system, and the paper alludes to some key regional and local differentiations. The paper discusses the market contexts for attempts to revitalise the sector, concluding that broad fiscal measures are likely to have greater impact than rent decontrol. Madhu Satsangi is Lecturer in Housing Studies at the School of Planning and Housing, Edinburgh College of Art/Heriot-Watt University. Madhu has researched housing markets, voluntary and private-sector housing finance and housing management issues.     

中国房地产业市场集中度影响因素的实证研究

将产业组织理论与计量经济学方法相结合,根据中国房地产业发展特点,对影响中国房地产业市场集中度的因素进行了实证分析。结果表明,中国房地产业市场集中度与期初集中度、进入壁垒呈正相关关系,与规模经济呈负相关关系。由此,探讨了促进中国房地产业市场集中度由分散向适度集中转变的政策思路。     

Transparency,market operation and trust in the Dutch construction industry: an exploratory study

After the discovery of illegal price agreements in the Dutch construction industry, the government and major players in the sector have initiated a transition process towards more professional commercial relations. In the transition process transparency plays an important part, as it is a precondition for better market operation in the construction sector. However, there are significant disadvantages to a pursuit of transparency, such as higher costs and the risk of information overload. It is therefore necessary to find a good balance between more transparency and other ways to restore trust between key players in the construction sector. Especially complex products with a high degree of risk can best be dealt with through implicit contracts, in which trust is based on a mixture of the reputation mechanism, contracts that create a congruity of interests and the integrity of the contract partners.     

Competition in electricity markets: international experience and the case of Italy

As a result of European Directives 96/92 and 2003/54 on the liberalisation of the internal market for electricity, the Italian electricity sector has been subject to extensive institutional changes which have affected the competitive nature of the market. In this paper we attempt to assess the likely effect of these institutional changes on the Italian electricity industry, and focus particularly on the impact of the introduction of a centralised wholesale market. The assessment of the likely impact of these institutional changes is based on the comparison with the international experience of countries where extensive liberalisation measures have been implemented (such as the US, UK and the Scandinavian region). On the basis of this international comparison, we draw some lessons about how to promote effective competition in the Italian market and in other electricity markets which have not been fully liberalised.     

Construction sector concentration: evidence from Britain

For the first time, empirical estimates of concentration in the British construction sector are provided. The research adds value to published DETR/DTI data on the structure of British construction by applying a novel technique for estimating the concentration ratio proposed by McCloughan and Abounoori (MA) (2003). The MA method is applied because the data are grouped and simple summing of the largest market shares is not possible in this case. Results are provided on the trends in aggregate concentration (1971–99), concentration by main trades (1980–98) and concentration by specialist trades (1980–99). The first main finding is that aggregate concentration is low in British construction. This confirms the popular view, namely that construction is a fragmented sector, with the vast majority of private contractors operating at a small scale. The second main result is that concentration among main trades is also low. However, the same cannot be said of concentration among specialist trades – the third main result. The analysis shows that certain specialist trades (scaffolding specialists, asphalt and tar sprayers, constructional engineers, insulation specialists and demolition specialists) are relatively concentrated, even in the context of a national geographic market. These specialist trades experienced sharp rises in concentration in the latter half of the 1990s. The results suggest that the British construction sector is dynamic and comprises many diverse markets in terms of their levels and trends in concentration.     

THE NATURE AND EVOLUTION OF KNOWLEDGE NETWORKS IN JAPANESE MANUFACTURING

ABSTRACT The objective of this paper is to explore the nature and development of nonmaterial networks within establishments across the entire manufacturing sector in Japan. We generate coproduction indexes for different commodities in the Japanese economy, which enable us to recognize three types of nonmaterial linkages: technical, market and vertical. Predictably, the level of nonmaterial linkages is greater in more knowledge intensive industries. We observe that the evolution of these networks in the decade 1975 85 among the different manufacturing sectors parallels the evolution of the knowledge levels in the Japanese labor force towards higher levels of embodied knowledge.     

广州市建筑业市场集中度分析

应用CRn指数、洛伦茨曲线和基尼系数以及HHI指数分析了广州市建筑业的市场集中度,结论表明广州市建筑业市场集中度较低,存在过度竞争的现象;企业规模层次性不够鲜明,存在规模结构不合理的现象;说明了我国建筑业在一定程度上受地域的影响较大。     

中国建筑业产业集中度分析

产业集中度是指特定产业的生产经营集中程度,它是反映行业和市场结构的重要指标。论文运用行业集中率方法（CRn）测算了中国建筑业2000—2005年度的产业集中度,并与国内其它行业集中度进行了对比分析;运用洛伦茨曲线将中国的建筑业产业集中度与国外发达国家建筑业产业集中度进行了比较研究。研究结果表明中国建筑业产业集中度近年来虽有所发展,但与国内其它行业及发达国家同行业相比仍存在较大差距。论文最后从法律法规体系、市场秩序、产业和企业结构以及行业壁垒等方面,探讨了提高中国建筑业产业集中度的有关问题。     

现代建筑业与科技融合之对策研究

建筑业作为国家支柱产业之一,在迅速发展的同时面临了很多问题,如市场规范程度低、产业集中度不高、资金短缺等。当今科学技术成为经济发展的主旋律,产业与科技的融合成为建筑业面临的主要问题;发展现代建筑业已成为应对全球市场变化和金融危机的重要手段,也可以说是一场产业革命。文章通过对现代建筑业现状以及科学技术对建筑业影响的研究,分析了现代建筑业与科技融合的必然性及途径,为建筑业更好更快的发展提供支撑。     

Private Rental Housing in Hong Kong

This paper examines selected aspects of housing policy and its influence on private rental housing in Hong Kong. Its ambitions are modest, in part because so little research has been conducted on the sector, as a consequence of the small size of the sector as well as the concentration of socio-political, economic and policy analyses on the other major housing sectors, namely public renting and home ownership. It is argued that a fundamental function of private renting, to provide a functional substitute and counter-balance to distortions in the market for private home ownership, has been systematically undermined in Hong Kong. In spite of its historical importance in meeting Hong Kong people's housing needs, the sector's decline has been steep and it can now be fairly described as a marginalised tenure, despite incomplete structural adjustment post- Asian Financial Crisis. It is suggested that a fundamental reason for the decline of the private rental sector has been the impact of government policy, which undermined the private rental sector and thus an important element of the market mechanism in housing provision. The government's ideology of home ownership has also functioned to transfer lower middle-income families into the owner occupied sector. Although the Hong Kong government has not been as overtly hostile to this sector as governments have been elsewhere, it nevertheless also seems to envisage no real role for the private rental sector in a housing delivery system molded by policy preference for home ownership, rather than fostering viable economic competition by also facilitating an efficient private rental sector.     

A review of electricity markets and reforms in Russia

The power industry in Russia has undergone one of the most ambitious reform programs implemented in the world. This paper reviews the background, targets, and measures taken in the major stages of the reform, outlines the current state of the Russian power sector and analyzes the results of the reform. It is concluded that given the current economic situation to provide large investments, Russian authorities had to undertake some market intervention, which had some side effects on the competitiveness of the market. By 2018, the urgent need for the investment was removed. The authorities have improved some important regulations, while some of the key non-market mechanisms are still maintained.