Empirical tests to discern linkages between construction and other economic sectors in Singapore

Abstract

The construction industry makes significant contributions to the socio-economic development process in most countries. Its importance in the economy is due largely to the direct and indirect impact it has on the national economy. It stimulates the growth of other sectors through a complex system of linkages. Interest in multi-sectoral linkages was generated following Hirschman's work that investigated the relationship between unbalanced sectoral growth and economic development. Most of the past research work had used Leontief's input-output analysis to gauge the backward and forward linkages between industries. This paper proposes an econometric procedure that can be used for determining the construction output linkages. This involves unit-root testing and Granger causality testing. The main purpose is to determine the impact of a fluctuation in construction output on the sectoral production and the economy of Singapore. This helps to assess the role of the construction industry and how it is affected by the changes in the other economic sectors.