99619 - Construction Industry Economics and Management

Learning outcomes

Through this course, the student learns the basic elements of applied economic analysis, and the principles of business organization, management and strategies. Furthermore, the course introduces the student to the study of the construction industry from an economic perspective. At the end of the course, the student matures economic thinking, develops analytical skills and is able to handle economic and management theories, methods and tools (i.e., databases) to analyze autonomously selected industries and territories. Furthermore, the student achieves a working knowledge of the construction sectors in terms of key economic drivers, business organization and management, innovation performance, national policy and regulatory framework, as well as appraisal techniques.

Course contents

The module aims at introducing the basic elements of real estate and project appraisal. It is structured into two parts, that illustrate different evaluation and appraisal techniques concerning applications and case studies. During the course, some exercises are proposed to the students to apply the explained methodologies to real evaluation problems, according to a learning-by-doing approach. At the end of the course, the student will have an overview of the discipline, with a specific focus on the real estate market.

Part 1 – Real Estate Market

The first part of the module introduces some fundamental concepts of real estate and project appraisal: private and public goods, real estate market characteristics, types of value. Different evaluation techniques will explained, such as mono-parametric evaluation, sales comparison approach and income capitalization approach. Finally, a market value assessment exercise for a property is proposed.

Part 2 – Feasibility assessment and decision support tools

The second part focuses on decision-making in public and private contexts, and the feasibility assessment of interventions. This module presents the Cash Flow Analysis (CFA), the Cost-Benefit Analysis (CBA) and the Multicriteria Analysis (MCA). For this second part, the application of CFA to a real-world case study in the construction sector is proposed.

Readings/Bibliography

“Attending students” – students who regularly attend the course can use the provided slides.

“Not-attending students” – students who will not be taking the course regularly can use the slide and this text to integrate some concept:

Manganelli, B. Real Estate Investing. Market Analysis, Valuation Techniques, and Risk Management. Springer Cham, 2015, 1, 210.See chapter “ The Real Estate Market ”, and chapter “ Investment Evaluation”.

Teaching methods

For “attending students”: frontal lectures, development of two assignments and revision in class.

For “not-attending students”: individual study of the educational materials and the given text.

Assessment methods

For “attending students”:

Attending students will do the two scheduled assignments, which will be worth 50% of the final grade. The exam will be oral and will include a discussion of the exercises performed and a few questions on the course program. Exam mark: 50% assignments + 50% questions on the course program.

For “not-attending students”:

Not-attending students will take a written exam (both multiple choice questions and open questions) at the end of the course accounting for 100% of the mark. This exam is based on the study of the education materials and the text.

Teaching tools

Frontal teaching delivered with the support of PPT presentations. Exercise and revision are scheduled in presence. Active participation in discussion and classwork is required.

Office hours

See the website of Giulio Cavana