Evaluating the Impacts of Health, Social Network and Capital on Craft Efficiency and Productivity: A Case Study of Construction Workers in China

Jingfeng Yuan, Wen Yi, Mengyi Miao and Lei Zhang
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Jingfeng Yuan: Department of Construction and Real Estate, Southeast University, Nanjing 210096, China
Wen Yi: School of Engineering and Advanced Technology, Massey University, Auckland 0632, New Zealand
Mengyi Miao: Department of Construction and Real Estate, Southeast University, Nanjing 210096, China
Lei Zhang: Department of Construction and Real Estate, Southeast University, Nanjing 210096, China

IJERPH, 2018, vol. 15, issue 2, 1-25

Abstract: The construction industry has been recognized, for many years, as among those having a high likelihood of accidents, injuries and occupational illnesses. Such risks of construction workers can lead to low productivity and social problems. As a result, construction workers’ well-being should be highly addressed to improve construction workers’ efficiency and productivity. Meanwhile, the social support from a social network and capital (SNC) of construction workers has been considered as an effective approach to promote construction workers’ physical and mental health (P&M health), as well as their work efficiency and productivity. Based on a comprehensive literature review, a conceptual model, which aims to improve construction workers’ efficiency and productivity from the perspective of health and SNC, was proposed. A questionnaire survey was conducted to investigate the construction workers’ health, SNC and work efficiency and productivity in Nanjing, China. A structural equation model (SEM) was employed to test the three hypothetical relationships among construction workers’ P&M health, SNC and work efficiency and productivity. The results indicated that the direct impacts from construction workers’ P&M health on work efficiency and productivity were more significant than that from the SNC. In addition, the construction workers’ social capital and the network can indirectly influence the work efficiency and productivity by affecting the construction workers’ P&M health. Therefore, strategies for enhancing construction workers’ efficiency and productivity were proposed. Furthermore, many useable suggestions can be drawn from the research findings from the perspective of a government. The identified indicators and relationships would contribute to the construction work efficiency and productivity assessment and health management from the perspective of the construction workers.

Keywords: structural equation model; physical and mental health; social network; social capital; craft efficiency; craft productivity (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (7)

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