Average propagation length analysis for the change trend of China’s construction industry chain

The sustainable development of the construction industry in China requires in-depth analysis of the industrial chain related to the construction industry and the transformation of its production mode. Through analysis of input–output tables over years of 2007, 2010, 2012, 2015 and 2017 and the adoption of average propagation length (APL) model, this paper investigates the changes of China’s construction industry from a macro level. The results show that the construction industry has stronger economic linkages with the Manufacture of Nonmetallic Mineral Products, the Manufacture and Processing of Metals and Metal Products and the Mining Industry than any other industries. The economic distance between the Manufacture of Nonmetallic Mineral Products and the construction industry is the shortest, taking 1 as its value in all 5 years, which indicates the growth of the construction industry has the strongest positive effect on the development of the industry. In addition, the correlation coefficient between the construction industry and most industries showed an upward trend from 2007 to 2015, and slightly decreased in 2017. In general, the complexity of the construction industry chain has an increasing trend. The linkages between industries have increased and the construction industry chain is relatively stable.