Research Reports

The local construction industry accounts for a high portion of the local economy, in terms of both production inducement and added-value inducement, and it is assessed not only as a forward and backward-linked industry, but as a core infrastructure(universal) industry for the improvement of local economic vitality since it has strong job creation effect as well. Thus, Framework Act on the Construction Industry and Public Contract Act define specific details related to the protection and promotion of small and medium-sized construction enterprises and the local construction industry. In regard to the promotion of the local construction industry, however, the Korean central government has not sufficiently implemented policies related to the protection and promotion of the local construction industry and the reinforcement of industrial competitiveness besides the fixed-ratio prior-allocation of local construction enterprises in case of public procurement. In other words, the local construction industry is quite alienated, compared to the other local industries. Yet, it is welcome news that the local governments have actively provided autonomous polices for the promotion of the local construction industry since the late 2000’s. The problem is that such policies are rather uniforms, without considering the reality and characteristics of the local construction industry in different areas, and even the policy effect is not really considered from multiple perspectives is most areas, resulting in low policy effectiveness. Thus, this study aims to provide a rational policy pool for the promotion of small and medium-sized local construction enterprises located in this area, targeting policy makers related to the central government and the local government. Specifically, this study is ① to analyze the characteristics and present states of the local construction industry, ② to draw limitations based on the analysis results about the trend of the existing local construction industry promotion policies of the central government, the local government and main ordering public agencies, ③ to draw the demand for relevant future policies through a survey with local construction enterprises and ④ to propose a total of 105 central government and local government-led policy measures for the promotion of the local construction industry. Out of the policies proposed, this study proposes 17 ones for the central government to implement for the promotion of the local construction industry and the protection and promotion of small and medium-sized construction enterprises. For the local government, this study also proposes 17 policy projects and 57 detailed assignments to carry out for the promotion of the local construction industry.