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Market structure and economic status for firms producing single-family houses in Sweden
Linnaeus University, Faculty of Technology, Department of Mechanical Engineering. (Industriell ekonomi, Industrial Engineering)
2016 (English)Licentiate thesis, comprehensive summary (Other academic)
Abstract [en]

The gradually changing behavior of the population, towards urbanization, ledto an increased shortage of available housing. This development has resultedin a serious issue in Sweden, where too few firms are providing solutions formulti-family houses in wood. Potential firms that could fill this increasingdemand are those in the single-family house industry. Yet, these firms mightface considerable problems with productivity, predominately derived fromincreasing production costs and inadequate production development.Developing these firms are associated with long-term investments, whichis investigated by evaluating the industry structure for sellers, highlightingthe financial and market situation within their industry. These factors aregrowing in importance due to the current market concentration, where morefirms are required to focus on product development driven by the demand toprefabricate wooden elements, volumes or modules in an industrialized way.This thesis studies Swedish firms producing wooden single-familyhouses, with the aim to investigate their possibilities to enter the woodenmulti-family house industry in Sweden.Investigations will be conducted by applying Altman’s Z’ value, riskposition model, the Herfindahl-Hirschman index, the Herfindahl-Hirschmannumber equivalent, productivity ratio model for profitability and finally amodel measuring market Concentration Ratio.Results show that the industry tends towards perfect competition with toomany firms involved, i.e. firms mainly have to compete by prices. Further,firms are grouped into three zones; risk, grey or safe zone. The levels withinthese zone show a reduction of firms in the red zone over time. Related to thecurrent risks, many firms have promising positions to invest in productdevelopment towards wooden multi-family houses, in addition to theircurrent products, even though firm productivity has declined during thestudied time frame. The results that the investigated firms have goodpossibilities gaining a competitive advantage by diversifying into thegrowing wooden multi-family house industry.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Växjö: Linnaeus University , 2016. , p. 122
Series
Faculty of Technology : Report ; 47
Keywords [en]
Wooden Houses, Wooden single-family houses, Wooden multi- family houses, Financial Performance, Risk Position, Economic distress, Z- score model, Industry Structure, Productivity, Off-site construction, Industry concentration
National Category
Mechanical Engineering
Research subject
Technology (byts ev till Engineering), Mechanical Engineering
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:lnu:diva-60000ISBN: 978-91-88357-52-6 (print)OAI: oai:DiVA.org:lnu-60000DiVA, id: diva2:1067110
Available from: 2017-02-17 Created: 2017-01-20 Last updated: 2017-02-17Bibliographically approved
List of papers
1. Corporate Economic Distress in the Wood Construction Industry: Current State and Trend After the Economic Crisis
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Corporate Economic Distress in the Wood Construction Industry: Current State and Trend After the Economic Crisis
2015 (English)In: Pro Ligno, ISSN 1841-4737, E-ISSN 2069-7430, Vol. 11, no 4, p. 389-396Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

In order to obstruct housing shortage in Sweden, wood is considered as an alternative material for multi-family applications. Yet, more firms are needed to prefabricate wooden elements, volumes or modules in an industrialised way. These could be found amongst firms producing wooden single-family houses; however, they might suffer from economic distress, since their core market dropped by more than 60 % in the aftermath of the economic crisis. This study investigates corporate economic distress from 2010 to 2013 of 52 Swedish firms producing wooden single-family houses. This, by applying Altman’s Z’-score model, grouping firms into a risk, a grey or a safe zone. Results show that from 2010 to 2013, firms suffering from economic distress decreased from 11.1 % to 3.8 %. The two remaining firms in the risk zone most likely will face bankruptcy, if no radical action will be taken. Firms in the grey zone increased from 31.1 % to 36.5 %. The 19 firms in this zone are dependent on appropriate strategies to positively develop their business. Finally, firms in the safe zone increased from 57.8 % to 59.7 %. These firms are in good economic conditions and can be regarded as potential candidates for investing in a development towards multi-family applications. For the investigated time period, the average Z’-score improvement for the whole industry equals 38 %, with a major upturn from 2012 to 2013.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Brasov: , 2015
Keywords
Wooden single-family houses, wooden multi-family houses, economic distress, Z-score model, multi-storey houses
National Category
Production Engineering, Human Work Science and Ergonomics Economics
Research subject
Technology (byts ev till Engineering), Industrial economy; Economy, Economics; Economy, Ekonomistyrning
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:lnu:diva-42423 (URN)
Conference
WOOD SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING IN THE THIRD MILLENNIUM
Available from: 2015-04-15 Created: 2015-04-15 Last updated: 2017-12-04Bibliographically approved
2. Productivity Trend in the Off-Site Construction Sector of Wooden Houses
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Productivity Trend in the Off-Site Construction Sector of Wooden Houses
2015 (English)In: Pro Ligno, ISSN 1841-4737, E-ISSN 2069-7430, Vol. 11, no 4, p. 432-439Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

With rising production costs and an insufficient production development, firms in the Swedish industry for wooden single-family houses might face severe problems in productivity. This is gaining in importance, considering that this industry highly tends towards perfect competition, i.e. firms mainly have to compete by prices. This study investigates the productivity of Swedish firms producing wooden single-family houses off-site, by analysing the ratio between turnover and number of employees as factors affecting productivity. 48 firms were studied from 2010 to 2013 and the results show that the average firm productivity in the industry worsened by 6.56 %, with a slight improvement from 2012 to 2013. 23 firms increased and 25 firms decreased their productivity during the investigated time span, yet, from 2012 to 2013, 31 firms improved productivity. Almost half of the 23 firms with increased productivity achieved that betterment even though their turnover decreased and 12 firms improved productivity with declining turnover. Another 12 firms tried to compensate declining turnover with resigning employees, yet, could not keep their former productivity level.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Brasov: , 2015
Keywords
wooden single-family houses, productivity, off-site construction, industry analysis, key performance indicator
National Category
Production Engineering, Human Work Science and Ergonomics Economics
Research subject
Technology (byts ev till Engineering), Industrial economy; Economy, Ekonomistyrning; Economy, Economics
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:lnu:diva-42428 (URN)
Conference
WOOD SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING IN THE THIRD MILLENNIUM
Available from: 2015-04-15 Created: 2015-04-15 Last updated: 2017-12-04Bibliographically approved
3. Operational and Financial Risks in the Swedish Industry for Wooden Single-Family Houses: A Trend Analysis
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Operational and Financial Risks in the Swedish Industry for Wooden Single-Family Houses: A Trend Analysis
2015 (English)In: 4th Forum Wood Building Nordic Växjö 2015, 2015Conference paper, Published paper (Other academic)
Abstract [en]

Shifting concentration of population to urban areas has increased the shortage of available housing. The combination of housing shortage with a limited number of companies that provide solutions for multi-family houses in wood has become a serious concern in Sweden. Those companies that possibly could fill this void and enter this segment are at present time producing single-family houses. The development for these companies is connected to investments in long-term product development. The aim of this paper is to examine the possibility for these companies to develop and enter this segment. This is investigated by describing the risk position and financial situation for the companies within this industry, over time. It is conducted by utilizing a risk position model for 46 selected companies, comparing the development trend over a selected time period. This has exposed that many of the companies have demonstrated a positive financial situation and risk position over time, indicating a favorable position to invest in product development towards wooden multi-family houses in addition to their current products.

Keywords
Wooden Houses, Industry Structure, Financial Performance, Risk Position, Product Relatedness
National Category
Other Engineering and Technologies
Research subject
Technology (byts ev till Engineering), Industrial economy
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:lnu:diva-47334 (URN)
Conference
4th Forum Wood Building Nordic Växjö 2015
Available from: 2015-11-19 Created: 2015-11-19 Last updated: 2017-02-17Bibliographically approved
4. Changes in Industry Structure and Concentration?: Welfare Loss due to Perfect Competition in the Swedish Industry for Wooden Single-Family Houses
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Changes in Industry Structure and Concentration?: Welfare Loss due to Perfect Competition in the Swedish Industry for Wooden Single-Family Houses
2016 (English)In: 70th Forest Products Society annual convention - new horizons for the forest products industry, June 27-29, 2016, Portland, Madison: Forest Products Society, 2016Conference paper, Published paper (Refereed)
Abstract [en]

As studies based on data from 2012 show, the Swedish market for wooden single-family houses is highly competitive, with many firms offering relatively homogeneous products or services. In order to serve the demand on that market, only 38 % of the existing firms actually were needed. Thus, an uneven distribution of resource utilization let to welfare losses. Yet since 2012, the demand on the market increased by more than 35 %, which potentially had an effect on resource utilization.

This study is aiming at describing the development of the structure and concentration in the Swedish industry for wooden single-family houses, for a five year period from 2010 to 2014. This could help to understand, if and how market demand affects structure, concentration rate and consequently welfare loss due to resource utilization. The required data were collected from the annual reports of the 52 relevant firms in the industry. By means of the Herfindahl-Hirschman Index and the Herfindahl-Hershamann Number Equivalent, industry structure and concentration rate was calculated.

The results will show how the industry structure and concentration rate developed from 2010 to 2015, the distribution of resource for welfare purposes and thus, how many firms there actually were needed to serve the market.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Madison: Forest Products Society, 2016
Keywords
Wooden single-family houses, Industry structure, Industry concentration, Industry analysis, Welfare loss
National Category
Production Engineering, Human Work Science and Ergonomics
Research subject
Technology (byts ev till Engineering), Industrial economy; Technology (byts ev till Engineering), Civil engineering; Technology (byts ev till Engineering), Forestry and Wood Technology
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:lnu:diva-51326 (URN)
Conference
70th Forest Products Society annual convention - new horizons for the forest products industry, June 27-29, 2016, Portland
Available from: 2016-03-24 Created: 2016-03-24 Last updated: 2017-02-17Bibliographically approved

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Lindblad, Fredrik

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