The State, the Market, and Competitive Strategy: The Housebuilding Industry in the United Kingdom, France, and Sweden

The objective in this paper is to compare the competitive strategies of the housebuilding industry in the United Kingdom, France, and Sweden. It is focused on the relationship between the different mechanisms by which the housing market is regulated and the competitive methods adopted by firms in each country. By using a detailed study of over 100 firms in the three countries, it is argued that there is a relationship between the forms of market regulation, the level of uncertainty and risk faced by housebuilders, and their profit-making strategies. Finally, some of the implications of the findings for the UK housebuilding industry in the 1990s are considered.