Jaakko Jussila Transformation towards sustainability in the construction market Adoption of wood construction in Finland  ACTA WASAENSIA 494 Copyright © Vaasan yliopisto and the copyright holders. ISBN 978-952-395-038-2 (print) 978-952-395-039-9 (online) ISSN 0355-2667 (Acta Wasaensia 494, print) 2323-9123 (Acta Wasaensia 494, online) URN https://urn.fi/URN:ISBN:978-952-395-039-9 Hansaprint Oy, Turenki, 2022. ACADEMIC DISSERTATION To be presented, with the permission of the Board of the School of Marketing and Communication of the University of Vaasa, for public examination on the 18th of November, 2022, at noon. Article-based dissertation, School of Marketing and Communication, Marketing Author: Jaakko Jussila https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9723-8191 Supervisors: Professor Hannu Makkonen University of Vaasa, School of Marketing and Communication, Marketing Professor Arto Rajala University of Vaasa, School of Marketing and Communication, Marketing Custos: Professor Hannu Makkonen University of Vaasa, School of Marketing and Communication, Marketing Reviewers: Professor Ari Hynynen University of Tampere, Faculty of Built Environment, Architecture Docent, Associate Professor Hanna Komulainen University of Oulu, Oulu Business School, Department of Marketing, Management and International Business Opponent: Professor Pauliina Ulkuniemi University of Oulu, Oulu Business School, Department of Marketing, Management and International Business V Tiivistelmä Ilmastonmuutos vaatii toimia kestävän kehityksen edistämiseksi maailman- laajuisesti. Se edellyttää kansakuntia ja teollisuudenaloja muuttamaan totuttuja toimintatapojaan. Rakennusalalla on tärkeä rooli kestävän kehityksen murrok- sessa sen yhteiskunnallisen merkityksen ja intensiivisen raaka-aineiden käytön vuoksi. Tämän väitöskirjan tavoitteena on luoda parempi käsitys kestävän kehityk- sen siirtymää mahdollistavista tai estävistä tekijöistä rakennusalalla ja asunto- markkinoilla. Puurakentaminen nähdään alalla yhtenä ratkaisuna hiilijalanjäljen pienentämiseen korvaten betonirakentamista. Empiirisessä tutkimuksessa kiinnostuksen kohteena on erityisesti kuntien ja instituutioiden rooli puun käyttöönoton tukemisessa Suomen rakennusalalla. Muutosvaatimusten ymmärtämiseksi tämän tutkimuksen artikkelissa I tehdään synteesi tieteellisestä kirjallisuudesta liittyen puukerrostalorakentamisen kehityk- seen vaikuttavista mahdollistavista ja hidastavista tekijöistä. Tutkimus käyttää asuntotarjonnan rakennetta kuvaavaa mallia (ns. SHP-konsepti), joka kattaa asuntojen tuotannon, vaihdannan ja käytön, tarkastellakseen kestävän kehityksen siirtymään vaikuttavia ajureita ja esteitä. Seuraavaksi artikkelissa II analysoidaan institutionaalisten käytäntöjen roolia asuntomarkkinoilla omakotirakentajien näkökulmasta, missä puun käytöllä on pitkät perinteet. Useiden instituutioiden, valtion toimien ja sääntelyn voidaan havaita vaikuttavan kestävän kehityksen siirtymään muuttaen toimintaympäristöä. Lopuksi artikkelissa III tutkitaan kuntien roolia kestävän kehityksen muutoksen edistämisessä ja puun käyttöön- otossa rakentamisessa. Väitöskirja esittelee analyyttisen viitekehyksen, joka ohjaa tutkimusta ja auttaa jäsentelemään kestävän kehityksen siirtymään liittyvää laajaa ja monimutkaista ongelmaa rakennusalalla. Rakennusalan kohdatessa kestävyysmurroksen, voidaan teollista puuraken- tamista edistävinä tekijöinä nähdä positiiviset tuoteominaisuudet sekä tuote- innovaatiot, kuten esivalmistuksen kautta saavutettava rakentamisen tehokkuus. Toisaalta korkeammat kustannukset, tuotteen laatuun liittyvät ennakkoluulot, sekä epäsuotuisat institutionaaliset käytännöt hidastavat puurakentamisen kehitystä. Muutoksen aikaansaamiseksi puurakentamista on tarkasteltava laajem- min asuntomarkkinoiden kontekstissa, ei pelkästään asuntotuotantoon liittyvien teknologisten ja kustannustehokkuusnäkökulmien kautta. Asiasanat: puurakentaminen, kestävä siirtymä, asuntotarjonnan rakenne. VI Abstract Climate change calls for actions towards sustainability on a global level. It requires nations and industries to transform the ways in which they are used to operating. The construction sector plays a vital role to expedite the transition towards sustainability due to its contribution to society and intense usage of raw material. This dissertation aims to create a better understanding of the factors that enable or hinder sustainability transition in the construction sector and housing markets. In the construction industry, wood construction is considered a solution for reducing the carbon footprint by replacing concrete construction. The role of municipalities and institutions in supporting the adoption of wood in the Finnish construction sector is a topic of specific interest for this empirical study. First, to understand the requirements for sustainability transition, this research synthesises the current scientific literature for enabling and hindering factors affecting the development of the wooden multi-story construction sector in Article I. This study implements the concept of structures of housing provision (SHP) that comprise spheres of production, consumption and exchange of houses to approach drivers and barriers for sustainability transition. Next, the role of institutional practices in the housing market is analysed in Article II from the perspective of homebuilder families in the detached home market, where wood has traditionally been used for a long time. Several institutions and governmental actions and regulations are found to affect the sustainability transformation at the level of the socio-technical landscape. Finally, Article III investigates the role of municipalities in enabling the sustainability transformation and adoption of wood in the construction sector. This dissertation presents an analytical framework that guides research and helps identify the broad and complex problems of the sustainability transition in the construction sector. As the construction sector gradually transforms towards sustainability, the benefits of the sustainability of wood and product innovations, such as efficiencies through pre-fabrication, facilitate industrial wood construction. In contrast, higher cost concerns, prejudices on quality and unfavourable institutional practices hinder the use of wood. To transform the construction industry, wood construction must be viewed not only in terms of supply mechanisms mainly connected with technological and perceived cost-efficiency benefits but also in the context of housing markets. Keywords: wood construction, sustainability transition, structures of housing provision. VII ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS My journey as a PhD student has not always been as straightforward or optimal as one may generally think; however, I believe I needed all the confusing obstacles, side roads and barriers I experienced to transform the dissertation to its present form. Most of the time, conducting research and writing a dissertation has been a lone man’s work, which required countless hours of sitting alone in an empty office with my laptop and patience to overcome many struggles and puzzles along the way. As I look back, I realise that all the exciting bypaths were needed to help me learn the required lessons during the path, build the research stronger, and enjoy many scenes along the way. Luckily, I did not have to travel alone all the way. This dissertation would not have been accomplished without the support, guidance, sparring and criticism of academic colleagues, supervisors, co-authors, examiners, reviewers, opponents and my family and friends. I would like to thank the University of Vaasa for making this journey possible. Along the way, I have been privileged to enjoy the guidance of several experienced supervisors. First, I would like to thank Professor Martti Laaksonen, who gave me the idea to apply for PhD studies and introduced me to academia and doctoral studies. You shared your experiences and sharp insights when I had not even clearly conceived of my destination. Second, Professor Katja Lähtinen, who did not hesitate to roll up her sleeves and act as a co-author to my very first scientific article. Thank you for your support and enjoyable moments while steering me past the obstacles along the path. Third, Professor Asta Salmi, who plunged into my project and provided me with valuable guidance while working together on several research projects at hand. Thank you for helping me focus on the destination towards the end of the journey when, perhaps, the uphill seemed the hardest. Finally, Professors Hannu Makkonen and Arto Rajala, thank you for your valuable comments, knowledge and experience along the way and for helping me with all the practicalities finishing my dissertation. Over the years, several research projects and funders have also played a vital role in achieving the research goals. First, a grant from the Foundation for Economic Education, in 2017, allowed me to take a leave from work and dedicate my time to studies and research. Next, the following two research projects made an impact on the study: ‘Promoting livelihood and sustainability in South Ostrobothnia region through industrial wood building’ by the Finnish Forest Centre and the University of Vaasa and the recent ‘Knock on wood’ project carried out by the University of Helsinki, LUKE and SLU. In addition, I have had amazing, experienced colleagues VIII whom I would like to thank for all the help and support during my path. Special thanks for your help and co-authorship along my path: Katja, Asta, Mervi, Ritva, Anne, Anders, Cecilia, Emil, Liina and Elias. Thanks to all my colleagues at Rakennustutkimus RTS Oy, including my parents, Aarne and Anne, who maintained a positive and flexible attitude when it was most needed and helped me with extra resources for data collection for my research. Finally, I would like to thank my family and friends for their support and regular reminders that life exists beyond the academic world. Most importantly, thanks to my wife, Emmiina, for her support and love during the journey. I am aware that it has not always been an easy task for you to manage the everyday tasks single- handedly while I locked myself in the study during weekends or holidays. Finally, thanks to my children for being the greatest motivation that kept me going to complete this thesis on a tolerable schedule. I wish to continue many forthcoming journeys and challenges with the new knowledge and experience acquired during the process of working on this dissertation. Jaakko Jussila September 22, 2022 Helsinki, Finland IX Contents TIIVISTELMÄ ............................................................................................ V ABSTRACT ............................................................................................. VI ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .......................................................................... VII 1 INTRODUCTION ................................................................................. 1 1.1 Background of the study .......................................................... 1 1.1.1 Sustainability and the use of wood in the construction .............................................................. 1 1.1.2 Innovativeness in construction sector ........................ 3 1.1.3 Institutional practices and their implementation ........ 4 1.1.4 Municipality’s role in advancing sustainable construction .............................................................. 5 1.1.5 Increasing the use of wood in multi-storey construction in Nordic housing markets .................... 6 1.1.6 The Finnish construction market and urbanisation .... 8 1.2 Purpose of this thesis and its research questions ................... 10 1.3 Positioning of the study ......................................................... 11 1.3.1 Research setting and analytical perspective ............. 12 1.3.2 Structure of the dissertation .................................... 13 2 THEORETICAL BACKGROUND ........................................................... 15 2.1 Structures of Housing Provision (SHP) .................................... 15 2.2 Institutions ............................................................................ 18 2.3 Transformation towards sustainability in construction ........... 20 2.3.1 Multi-level perspective on sustainability transitions in construction industry .............................................. 22 2.3.2 Adoption of wood construction and the MLP ........... 24 2.4 Analytical framework for the dissertation ............................... 26 3 METHODOLOGY ............................................................................... 29 3.1 Research paradigm and methodology .................................... 29 3.2 Empirical data collection and analysis .................................... 30 3.2.1 Article I: Systematic literature review of wood construction demand, supply and local-level governance factors. ................................................. 32 3.2.2 Article II: Effects of institutional practices on delays in construction – Views of Finnish homebuilder families ................................................................... 33 3.2.3 Article III: The role of municipalities in transformation towards a more sustainable construction: The case of wood construction in Finland .................................................................... 34 3.3 Quality assessment of the research ........................................ 35 3.3.1 Trustworthiness ...................................................... 35 3.3.2 Reliability ................................................................ 36 X 3.3.3 Validity ................................................................... 37 3.3.4 Research ethics ....................................................... 37 4 SUMMARY OF THE ARTICLES ............................................................ 39 4.1 Article I: Aims, results and conclusions .................................. 39 4.2 Article II: Aims, results and conclusions ................................. 41 4.3 Article III: Aims, results and conclusions ................................ 44 4.4 Summarising the findings ...................................................... 46 4.4.1 Factors affecting WMC market development ............ 46 4.4.2 Role of institutional practices in delays experienced by homebuilders during their construction processes ............................................................... 47 4.4.3 Role of local-level governance actors in municipalities to drive sustainability transformation towards wood construction ..................................... 48 5 DISCUSSION .................................................................................... 49 6 CONCLUSIONS ................................................................................. 55 6.1 Contributions of the thesis .................................................... 55 6.2 Managerial implications ......................................................... 56 6.3 Limitations and future research suggestions .......................... 58 6.3.1 Limitations .............................................................. 58 6.3.2 Future research suggestions ................................... 58 REFERENCES ......................................................................................... 60 Figures Figure 1. Overview of the dissertation framework and positioning of the Articles. ............................................................... 12 Figure 2. Structure of the dissertation ........................................... 14 Figure 3. Actors connected to production, exchange and consumption spheres of structures of housing provision (SHP) .............................................................................. 16 Figure 4. Sustainability transition, as described by Geels and Schot (2007). ................................................................. 25 Figure 5. Analytical framework for the dissertation. ...................... 27 Figure 6. Summary of the research findings in relation to analytical framework of the dissertation. ....................................... 54 Tables Table 1. Summary of type of the data and method of analysis used in the Articles. ............................................................... 31 XI Abbreviations CLT Cross-laminated timber ECB European Central Bank GDP Gross domestic product GDPR General Data Protection Regulation MLP Multi-level perspective PRISMA Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta- Analyses SDG Sustainable development goals SHP Structures of housing provision WMC Wooden multi-story construction XII Publications Article I: Jussila, J., Nagy, E., Lähtinen, K., Hurmekoski, E., Häyrinen, L., Mark- Herbert, C., Roos, A., Toivonen, R., & Toppinen, A. (2022). Wooden multi- storey construction market development–systematic literature review within a global scope with insights on the Nordic region. Silva Fennica, 56(1), 1-24. https://doi.org/10.14214/sf.10609 Article II: Jussila, J., & Lähtinen, K. (2020). Effects of institutional practices on delays in construction–views of Finnish homebuilder families. Housing Studies, 35(7), 1167–1193. https://doi.org/10.1080/02673037.2019.1651831 Article III: Salmi, A., Jussila, J., & Hämäläinen, M. (2022). The role of municipalities in transformation towards more sustainable construction: The case of wood construction in Finland. Construction Management and Economics, Ahead- of-print, 1–21. https://doi.org/10.1080/01446193.2022.2037145 1 INTRODUCTION Climate change, as the most pressing global issue humanity is facing right now, calls for sustainability transformation in the emission-intensive construction sector in terms of the adoption of low-carbon solutions. Since wood is a renewable material with carbon storage properties, timber structures have beneficial climate impacts compared to other construction materials (Geng et al., 2017; Hafner & Schäfer, 2017; Hildebrand et al., 2017; Peñaloza et al., 2016). Construction and housing play a fundamental role in aiming at societal goals for sustainable development (Toppinen et al., 2018) and in providing business opportunities to companies involved in the forest industry. Sustainability transformation is systemic, meaning that it affects all entities and different actors need to collaborate to achieve the desired transformation. The effectiveness of tackling this global challenge depends on the construction industry and involved actors, along with their receptivity to change. This dissertation aims at creating a better understanding of factors enabling or hindering sustainability transition in construction sector and housing markets. 1.1 Background of the study Chapter 1.1.1 takes a closer look at sustainability transitions. Chapter 1.1.2 discusses the innovativeness of the construction sector and Chapter 1.1.3 details institutional practices and their implementation regarding the promotion of wood in the Finnish context. Chapter 1.1.4 elaborates on the role of municipalities in advancing sustainable construction and adopting wood construction. Chapter 1.1.5 provides an introduction to the increased research interest in the use of wood in construction in Nordics, while Chapter 1.1.6 provides a brief overview of the Finnish construction sector and urbanisation in this context. 1.1.1 Sustainability and the use of wood in the construction Sustainability transitions include long-term, multi-dimensional and fundamental transformation processes to shift established socio-technical systems towards more sustainable modes of production and consumption (Markard, 2012). Transitions are complex and often involve multiple actors and a wide range of competing and complementary technologies (Geels, 2004). The sustainability transition literature involves a power struggle between niche actors and dominant incumbents (Edmondson et al., 2019). One such transition is taking place in the 2 Acta Wasaensia construction sector, as sustainability concerns require the adoption of more environmentally friendly construction materials and building methods. Construction and housing play fundamental roles in enhancing societal goals for sustainable development (Toppinen et al., 2018). The construction sector accounts for as much as 39% of worldwide carbon emissions (United Nations, 2020). Furthermore, it is claimed that by developing the construction and utilisation of buildings in the EU, the total final energy consumption could be decreased by approximately 40%, total greenhouse gas emissions by 35% and the use of building materials by 50% (Herczeg et al., 2014). Using more wood in construction supports climate change mitigation because wood is a renewable raw material that collects carbon from the atmosphere and binds it for decades, especially when used in building structures. Thus, it has beneficial climate impacts compared to other construction materials (Geng et al., 2017; Hafner & Schäfer, 2017; Hildebrand et al., 2017; Peñaloza et al., 2016; NBHBP, 2019). Particularly in urban areas, the wide use of concrete construction has posed challenges to sustainability, as concrete is non-renewable and energy-intensive (e.g. material manufacturing, transportation) material (Gustavsson & Sathre, 2006). Thus, the combination of societal sustainability pressure and urbanisation has led to an increase in demand for developing and scaling up building solutions that can better respond to social, economic and environmental sustainability goals, including the global climate change challenge (Lindblad & Schaurte, 2017; Mark-Herbert et al., 2019; Lähtinen et al., 2021a). In forest-rich regions such as Finland, Sweden and Norway, most detached houses are traditionally made of timber (Hurmekoski et al., 2018). However, in recent decades, their building technologies have evolved due to the industrialisation of building processes and pre-fabrication (Steinhardt et al., 2020). Meanwhile, wooden multi-storey construction (WMC) is still in its niche, although it has strong potential to enhance sustainability in urban housing and the development of a circular bioeconomy in cities (Toppinen et al., 2019a; Lähtinen et al., 2021b). In addition, industrial wood construction has the potential to improve productivity and quality while reducing environmental impacts (Hurmekoski et al., 2015). Furthermore, construction material companies and consumers consider the environmental quality of wood an important factor (Toivonen, 2012) to support societal efforts to increase the use of wood in construction. The utilisation of wood in multi-storey residential and public buildings is gaining global interest, and WMC has been widely analysed (Gosselin et al., 2017; Toppinen et al., 2019a). An interview-based study by Franzini et al. (2018) on the personal perceptions of municipal civil servants showed that WMC is considered Acta Wasaensia 3 an interesting and sustainable solution for improving urban citizens’ lifestyles. Moreover, it is considered to support local and national businesses and economies. Globally, wood construction has been adopted and promoted to varying extents in various countries. For instance, the pre-fabricated housing industry in Australia and Sweden represents an early and late stage of industry emergence, respectively (Steinhardt et al., 2020). Hence, the increasing use of wood has attracted much research interest and is considered to contribute to sustainable development. 1.1.2 Innovativeness in construction sector The construction sector has been widely criticised for its lack of innovativeness, conservatism and risk-averse nature (e.g. Kristiansen et al., 2005; Lovell & Smith, 2010; Vesa, 2014; Hurmekoski et al., 2018). Changes in construction sector are believed to ‘take a long time due to slowly changing standards, norms, perceptions, education programmes and building culture’ (Hurmekoski, 2018), and the field is characterised by strong path dependencies and lock-in (Hurmekoski et al., 2015). Despite the long-standing traditions of building detached houses with wood (e.g. Høibø, 2015), large-scale industrial multi-storey construction with wooden structures is a relatively new phenomenon. The reasons for this have been the path dependencies in the construction businesses and changes in institutional practices, such as bans on urban wood building by regulation, which led to practices that promoted the usage of concrete in multi-storey construction since the early 1900s (e.g. Waugh, 2015; p. 110; Kuzman & Sandberg, 2017; Goh & Loosemoore, 2017). However, since the 1990s, the regulation allowing the usage of wood in multi-storey construction and the changes in building regulation and development of industrial wood building technologies have been potential drivers for changes in business logics in construction businesses. Simultaneously, another (often intertwined) innovation, also referred to as pre- fabrication or industrial construction, concerns off-site manufacturing. Industrial construction has been characterised as ‘disruptive’ (Steinhardt et al., 2020) and radical (Levander et al., 2011), because it can transform a complex housing product into something that is more like a commodity product and that needs less on-site production (Steinhardt et al., 2020). While such changes take place at the firm level, they are bound to impact the connected actors in the housing system as well (Viholainen et al., 2021a). Furthermore, advanced technical innovations in engineered mass-timber wood products (e.g. cross-laminated timber (CLT), laminated veneer lumber (LVL)) and the development of modular building technologies combined with a better 4 Acta Wasaensia understanding of fire behaviour have brought about transformation in the regulations, further enhancing possibilities for WMC development (Frangi, 2009; Lindgren, 2017; Lazarevic et al., 2020; Pelli & Lähtinen, 2020). New modular building technologies can add new dimensions for traditional construction procedures, change building culture and enhance possibilities to shift from site-bound construction to pre-fabricated construction. Lightweight wooden panels are easy to fasten, and installation occurs rapidly on-site. Thus, pre- fabrication shortens the overall construction time, hence improving construction efficiency (e.g. Stehn et al., 2002; Brege et al., 2014; Gosselin et al., 2018; Steinhardt et al., 2020). In addition, it further reduces noise and traffic at building sites, making industrial wood construction work more convenient for the environment and surrounding inhabitants (Van De Kuilen et al., 2011) Despite the alleged benefits of pre-fabrication, the adoption of new construction technologies has been relatively slow (Pelli & Lähtinen, 2020; Lindgren & Emmitt, 2017). 1.1.3 Institutional practices and their implementation Institutions can be defined as the humanly devised rules of the game in a society as well as the social structures that create, embody and enforce those rules (North, 1991; Ahuja & Yayavaram, 2011). Institutions have a central role in both human interaction and the way firms can do business by influencing, for example their allocation of resources to productive, unproductive or even destructive activities (Baumol, 1990). Institutions also play an important role in systems of value co- creation through collaboration and cooperation within service ecosystems (Vargo & Lusch, 2015). They are composed of regulative, normative and cultural-cognitive elements (i.e. institutional practices) that add stability and meaning to social life. Institutions are highly resilient to change, but they can evolve over time and vary according to place or context (Scott, 2003). In the housing markets, some institutions can be seen as formal (e.g. norms and regulations on land-use planning and building governed through legislation), while some as informal (e.g. tendering systems or established forms of operations to manage building processes within business networks) (Scott, 2003; Toppinen et al., 2019a). The forces of change for sustainable construction arise from general, global societal needs and developments (Whiteman et al., 2013), explicated and promoted by the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) (United Nations, 2017; United Nations, 2020). In many countries, the state plays an active role in promoting sustainability transformation in the construction through institutional practices such as legislative actions or interventions (Rasmussen et al., 2017). This is also the case in Finland, where the state has taken numerous actions to advance Acta Wasaensia 5 transformation towards more sustainable construction. The Ministry of Environment published a roadmap to low-carbon construction in 2017. Furthermore, the use of wood in construction has been promoted by several governmental regimes since the mid-1990s by way of developing building codes, implementing policies and launching various programmes (Ministry of the Environment, 2020a; Vihemäki et al., 2020). For Finland, the present government has set the goal of being carbon neutral by 2035 and an objective of reducing the carbon footprint of construction and housing (Government Programme, 2019). One specific goal set in the government programme is to double the use of wood in construction during the government term. Lazarevic et al. (2020) showed that the emergence of innovation in the WMC (since the 1990s) in Finland was mainly bolstered by national programmes. In WMC innovation, they identified two distinct periods of activity stimulated by government interventions. Vihemäki et al. (2020) added to the aforementioned analysis by investigating those organisations that were identified as intermediaries in industrial wood construction and low-carbon construction. In the results of their study, regime intermediaries turned out to be prominent actors. This study focuses on ministries and national organisations or programmes, while local-level governance gains less attention and is located at the outskirts of the network of actors in industrial wood construction. However, even in the construction sector, civil servants in municipalities are important local-level governance actors. Previous findings (e.g. Franzini et al., 2018; Lindblad, 2020) show the relevant role regulators and administrators currently play in facilitating sustainability transformation. While national regulations are important institutions, their implementation takes place locally, highlighting the critical role of municipalities. Franzini et al. (2018) noted that municipalities often act as significant gatekeepers of urban development and construction, given their authority to oversee or approve zoning and land-use planning. 1.1.4 Municipality’s role in advancing sustainable construction Local-level governance actors, such as municipal (public) authorities (representing regions, communes and cities), play a central role in decision- making for and implementing institutional practices in construction business. First, municipalities may drive sustainability transformation as customers when realising public construction projects, thus influencing industry change and promoting innovation as public clients (Lindblad & Gustavsson, 2021; Gluch & Svensson, 2018; Carbonara & Pellegrino, 2019). Second, construction is guided by 6 Acta Wasaensia national and local regulations, norms and building codes, making municipalities important institutional actors as regulators of construction (Hurmekoski et al., 2017; de Vries & Verhagen, 2016). For instance, land zoning and city planning give local authorities the power to influence urban development (Franzini et al., 2018) and to make decisions in the development of structures of housing provision (SHP) in their area. In addition, municipalities need to politically set targets for sustainability (Gluch & Svensson, 2018). In Finland, the monopoly of municipal planning and democracy of local representatives set a relatively strong political backdrop for a Finnish public planner in comparison with his/her international and even Nordic counterpart (Hytönen, 2016). The public sector has several means for advancing sustainable and green construction, including, for example, revising and simplifying regulations and building supervision, ensuring the re-education of the workforce and launching new education programmes (Hurmekoski et al., 2017). Through public procurement practices and active end-user engagement, public sector may increase social, environmental and political value (Torvinen & Ulkuniemi 2016). The public sector can also promote innovations in construction, and its buying power is a factor that can support sustainable construction policy initiatives (Obwegeser & Müller, 2018). In particular, public clients have been identified as important for driving change and innovation in construction (Lindblad & Gustavsson, 2021; Bygballe & Ingemansson, 2014) as well as local sourcing, which supports local industries (Franzini et al., 2018). Hynynen (2016), who discussed local and regional actors in the development of timber construction, noted that cities and municipalities can enhance win–win situations as they are the beneficiaries of the regionally entrenched value chains of the wood building industry. The role of local-level governance actors as promoters of wood is especially important because markets are more concerned with cooperation than competition in value co-creation (Vargo & Lusch, 2015). 1.1.5 Increasing the use of wood in multi-storey construction in Nordic housing markets In this dissertation, the provision of housing is referred to as SHP (Ball, 1998), a concept that comprises spheres of production, consumption and exchange of houses that work as a system of network (Ball & Harloe, 1992). SHP is the network of relationships of actors resulting in and defining what types of buildings, how many, where, to whom and by whom are being constructed. A deeper look at the background of the concept is taken in Chapter 2.1, while this chapter intends to understand specific features of Nordic and Finnish construction markets, forming the core of future housing provision needs. Acta Wasaensia 7 Acquiring home is one of the biggest and most important purchasing decisions for many consumers in their lifetimes (Levy et al., 2008). It involves considering issues related to the following factors: the type of property (e.g. a detached house or an apartment in a multi-story building), age of the building stock, qualitative characteristics of the dwelling (e.g. floorplan) and location and source of financing, among other things (Kauko et al., 2002; Koklic & Vida, 2011). In Finland, roughly 10000 detached homes and 28000 apartments in multi-storey buildings were built in 2020 (OSF, 2020). Compared to other European countries, a special characteristic of the Nordic housing markets is the large proportion of private ownership, either in the form of owning a detached house, owning a share of a housing company or being a member of a housing co-operative (Andersson et al., 2007). In Finland, roughly two-thirds of all apartments are owned by inhabitants (94% of all detached homes and 37% of all multi-storey apartments), and one-third of dwellings (usually multi-storey apartments) are rental houses (OSF, 2020). Consequently, residents’ perceptions and value orientations on sustainability issues, including expected climate benefits, are critical (Lähtinen et al., 2021a). New detached homes often go as far as being built or planned by the residents themselves, although there are many businesses offering pre-fabricated houses in the market. In addition, from the perspective of fulfilment of sustainable urbanisation aims (e.g. UN SDGs), knowledge of demand factors in housing markets is important (Wolff et al., 2017). The interplay of producers, consumers and regulators is also a central theme for this study, as markets with unclear growth prospects often face a chicken–egg problem where producers have to invest in new production capacity without prospective customers and consumers are not able to buy apartments because there is no supply. Related to that, little is known about how key actors in local wood construction – customers, local policymakers and builders – jointly contribute to sustainable construction and increased user value. Elements hereof involve the role of sustainability and climate considerations (i.e. carbon stock and substitution effects) in the process of consumers’ decision-making. Despite an increased need for the supply of new houses (NBHBP, 2019) and political efforts to support WMC, market development has generally been slow in Nordic countries. Currently, the proportion of the new WMC flats (i.e. two storey or more) is about 5% in Finland, while the proportion stands at 20% in Sweden (Sipiläinen, 2020; Swedish Federation of Wood and Furniture Industry, 2021). Combined with positive regulation improvements, the adoption of WMC technologies has advanced through technical innovations in engineered wood products (Lindgren, 2017; Lazarevic et al., 2020). Updates in building codes on 8 Acta Wasaensia fire protection have enabled the construction of taller wooden buildings and made the recent increase in the usage of wood in Europe possible (Hildebrandt et al., 2017). In Finland, the growth in terms of the number of new WMC flats has been slow yet steady since about 2015; however, only approximately 1700 WMC flats have been completed so far in buildings with three or more storeys (Karjalainen, 2019). Growing interest in WMC may also be attributed to the low costs, faster construction, pleasant aesthetics and natural qualities of wood (Gold & Rubik, 2009; Gosselin et al., 2017; Viholainen et al., 2021b). As previous research and experience from various countries indicate, the established modes of operating in multi-storey construction favour concrete as the framing material (Kadefors, 1995; Hemström et al., 2017; Mark-Herbert et al., 2019). The path dependencies derived from concrete-based industries have caused lock-ins, which have slowed the uptake of industrial wood-building technologies. This development highlights the role of informal institutional practices in hindering innovation. However, as construction is usually a domestic field of business and is significantly affected by local-level governance, considerable variations may occur in the development of the WMC market within the countries (Hemström et al., 2017; Lähtinen et al., 2019a). 1.1.6 The Finnish construction market and urbanisation During the past decade, the construction sector in Finland has represented roughly 6% of the national GDP (Gross domestic product). In 2020, the construction sector generated a turnover of 36.9 billion euros, of which 7.4 billion euros came from residential construction, according to the Confederation of Finnish Construction Industries RT (CFCI, 2022). The industry plays a significant role in contributing to our national economy, and the unique role of house building as a consumer investment decision makes it an interesting domain for academic research. According to Statistics Finland (OSF, 2020), in the Finnish housing stock, the proportion of detached houses and apartments in multi-storey houses is approximately 40% for both types of dwellings, and the remaining 20% comprises other types of dwellings, such as row houses and townhouses. For the past decade, multi-storey apartments have been the dominant housing type for new construction in Finland. For example, in 2019, more than 31,500 out of 42,000 completed dwellings were apartments in multi-storey houses (75% of completed dwellings). In recent years, the construction market in Finland has become rapidly concentrated in the Helsinki area and other big cities, which are commonly seen as future growth areas, whereas smaller towns and the countryside have very little growth potential. The Greater Helsinki area covers approximately one-third of all Acta Wasaensia 9 new residential apartments (OSF, 2020). New construction seems to be focusing more on urban areas, regardless of house type. Urbanisation trends, together with sustainability challenges, facilitates changes in SHP and construction sector. Thus, the development of good living conditions and sustainable construction solutions for urban areas play a key role in adapting to climate change (He, 2019; Harju & Lähtinen, 2022). At the current level of building sector emissions, meeting national carbon- neutrality goals (by 2035 in Finland) seems to be very challenging. Hence, the achievement of these goals primarily depends on how business actors interact and cooperate with their stakeholders, as emphasised under SDG 17 on partnerships (https://sdgs.un.org/goals). Over time, customers, industries and policymakers can co-create user value and promote climate-neutral municipalities (Edmondson, 2019). However, to effectively enhance the use of wood in multi-story construction, changes in institutional practices, such as legislation, political programmes and education, would be required (Toppinen et al., 2019a). In Finland, the benefits of wood in urban construction have also been concretised at the official national level. For instance, the Finnish Government has set goals to increase the use of wood in construction, set national targets for the use of wood in public construction and establish supporting national programmes (Programme of Prime Minister Sanna Marin's Government, 2019; Ministry of the Environment, 2018; Ministry of the Environment, 2020b). Hence, it’s fair to say that the state plays a key role in promoting wood construction. In Finland, WMC flats are geographically concentrated in certain municipalities, increasing interest in these municipalities to advance WMC as a climate-smart solution (Franzini et al., 2018). Local-level governance actors in municipalities, especially urban planners, have much power to affect building market and industry development through formal strategies, assigning construction permits and informal measures, such as urban development strategies, public procurement processes and public-private partnerships (Mäntysalo et al., 2014; Torvinen & Ulkuniemi 2016; Lähtinen et al., 2019a). Therefore, enhancing WMC growth requires recognising the enabling factors as well as breaking free from the hindering factors in municipal governance. Overall, regarding future market development, the prospects for WMC appear rather positive based on the increasing number of building projects. In recent years, several studies have been introduced to address the emerging WMC phenomenon (e.g. Gosselin et al., 2017; Hemström et al., 2017; Hurmekoski et al., 2018). However, the current state of the literature has remained largely unmapped. The few existing systematic reviews have focused on sustainability in 10 Acta Wasaensia residential construction in general (Lima et al., 2021) or the perceived quality of wood as a building material (Harju, 2022). In those studies, social and economic aspects are found to be less frequently addressed in comparison to environmental sustainability, and wood material appears as a small but central node in the research from the perspective of building materials. Other reviews, such as that by de Carvalho et al. (2017), have mapped the integration of lean technology over a building’s life cycle, without including the usage aspects of renewable building materials or those connected to social science perspectives. To summarise, the construction sector plays a vital role in addressing global sustainability challenges. While the adoption of innovations has been slow, partly due to sector-specific characteristics (e.g. risk averseness and lock-in effects), innovations are emerging, causing changes in the dominant SHP. Considering WMC market growth, there is a need to better understand how the WMC market development literature is evolving. Specifically, more knowledge is needed on which market actors have been recognised in earlier research, how the actors connect to carbon neutrality objectives promoted by local-level governance, and which factors enable or hinder the market development of WMC. Better knowledge on these matters will enable WMC businesses to consider the aforementioned factors in implement their strategies, recognise the current state and obstacles for the industry and develop collaboration between other stakeholders to create better value while mainstreaming wood construction. 1.2 Purpose of this thesis and its research questions This dissertation is composed of three scientific articles (referred to as Articles) addressing several aspects of sustainability transition in the construction sector. The purpose of the thesis, together with the research questions proposed in this chapter, guide the efforts made in the Articles to provide new knowledge on market development in the adoption of wood construction in Finland. This study aims to create a better understanding of factors that enable or hinder sustainability transition in construction sector and housing markets. The role of municipalities and institutions in supporting the adoption of wood in the Finnish construction sector is of particular interest in this empirical study. To understand the requirements for change, Article I first synthesises the current scientific literature on the factors that enable or hinder the sustainability transition in WMC sector. As several institutions, governmental actions and regulations are found to affect sustainability transformation at the socio-technical landscape level, Article II analyses the role of the institutional practices in the Acta Wasaensia 11 housing market from the perspective of homebuilder families in detached home markets, where wood has traditionally been used from a long time. Next, Article III investigates the role of municipalities in driving the sustainability transformation and adoption of wood in the construction sector. For analytical purposes, three research questions were formulated. RQ1: Which factors affect the development of the wooden multi-storey construction market? The first research question is analysed in Article I, which adds knowledge on how demand, supply and local-level governance factors contribute to the development of wood construction market. The paper relies on data available in article databases covering the literature on WMC over the past two decades (2000– 2020). RQ2: What is the role of institutional practices in the delays experienced by homebuilders during their construction processes? The second research question is covered in Article II, which provides information on the impacts of institutional practices of local-level governance and construction business actors on delays in building processes. The study relies on data collected via interviews of Finnish homebuilder families who, as customers, have faced delays during their construction process. RQ3: What is the role of local-level governance actors in municipalities in driving sustainability transformation towards wood construction? The third research question covered in Article III addresses the role of local-level governance actors and businesses in transformation towards more sustainable construction by using wood. The study relies on data collected through interviews of public authorities in 292 Finnish municipalities regarding their views on the adoption of sustainable construction and wood construction in their municipality. 1.3 Positioning of the study The overview of the dissertation clarifies how the three Articles are positioned and how the individual articles contribute to the aim of the study (in Fig. 1). The arrows outline the relationship between market actors and their interconnected actions contributing to change in construction market. The three Articles in the dissertation have been presented according to the role they play in showcasing the 12 Acta Wasaensia research logic. Chapter 5 comprises findings from the individual Articles, which are further summarised and synthesised according to the dissertation framework. Figure 1. Overview of the dissertation framework and positioning of the Articles. 1.3.1 Research setting and analytical perspective Three main concepts form the analytical background of this dissertation. Some of these concepts have been briefly referred to in Chapter 1. This section briefly summarises the definition of the key concepts: SHP, institutions and sustainability transition. Structures of housing provision (SHP) refers to the provision of housing in a given market (Ball, 1998). In this dissertation, the focus is on SHP in Finland. SHP is a concept that covers spheres of production, consumption and exchange of houses that together work as a system of network (Ball & Harloe, 1992). This network of actors defines the types, numbers, location, owner and builder of a building under construction. Chapter 2.1 takes a deeper look at the background of the concept. Institutions are the humanly devised ‘rules of the game’ in a society as well as the social structures that create, embody and enforce those rules (North, 1991; Ahuja & Yayavaram, 2011). This study employs an institutional perspective by focusing on the institutional practices that affect the development of housing markets. Institutions can be seen as formal (e.g. norms and regulations governed Acta Wasaensia 13 through legislation) or informal (e.g. established forms of operations or management system) (Scott, 2003). Sustainability transitions are long-term, multi-dimensional and fundamental transformation processes through which established socio-technical systems shift to more sustainable modes of production and consumption (Markard, 2012). They are complex and often involve multiple actors and a range of competing and complementary technologies (Geels, 2004). In this study, we adopted the multi- level perspective (MLP) (Rip & Kemp, 1998; Geels, 2002) to research sustainability transition taking place in the construction sector, mainly in the form of adoption of wood construction in Finland. MLP consists of three analytical levels: niches (local phenomenon), socio-technical regimes (incumbent practices, national scale) and socio-technical landscape (institutions, global scale). (Smith, 2010; Markard, 2012). 1.3.2 Structure of the dissertation First, Chapter 1 presents the construction market and the pressures for sustainability transformation as the phenomenon of interest in this study. To address the purpose of the thesis and specific research questions, this chapter introduces the key literature and theoretical background of sustainability transformation. The key areas of interest covered in the chapter included the role of wood in construction, the role of construction markets and the housing sector in Finland, the ability of innovativeness and pre-fabrication in the construction sector and the role of municipalities and other key actors in this domain. Chapter 2 takes a deeper look at the theoretical background of the thesis, specifically emphasising SHP, institutional practices in construction and the sustainability transition concepts. Chapter 2.4 presents an analytical framework for the dissertation to guide the research. Chapter 3 describes the methodology and quality assessment of the thesis. First, the empirical data collection and analyses of the three articles are presented, followed by a quality assessment of the dissertation. Chapter 4 summarises the aims, main results and major contributions of the three Articles, followed by a discussion related to the research questions and the analytical framework in Chapter Five. Chapter 6 draws the conclusions and contributions of the thesis. Managerial and theoretical implications are discussed based on the results. In the end of the 14 Acta Wasaensia chapter, general limitations, together with future research suggestions, are discussed. The structure of the dissertation is presented in Fig. 2. Figure 2. Structure of the dissertation Acta Wasaensia 15 2 THEORETICAL BACKGROUND This section focuses on the theoretical aspects relevant to the dissertation topic for examining the adoption of wood construction in the Finnish construction sector. First, the SHPs are discussed in Chapter 2.1. Then, institutional theory and practices relevant to the construction sector are briefly discussed in Chapter 2.2, with their further examination in Article II. Finally, Chapter 2.3 discusses the sustainability transition in the construction sector. 2.1 Structures of Housing Provision (SHP) The term SHP refers to the network of relationships associated with the provision of housing at specific points in time (Ball, 1998). SHPs comprise the spheres of production, consumption and exchange, which have evolved over the course of time, forming country-specific features (Ball & Harloe, 1992). Based on the work of Ball (2003) and Burke and Hulse (2010), the production sphere comprises, for example, mechanisms that enable the supply of land through institutional practices affecting land-use planning and land ownership, along with business strategies and division of work within construction companies. In comparison, consumption is composed of, for example, the purchasing and ownership preferences of housing and the processes by which households purchase and maintain homes. The exchange sphere is related, for example, to financial institutions governing monetary instruments that enable sale, renting and use of the housing (Ball, 2003; Burke & Hulse, 2010). SHP is not a theory on housing, it is rather an approach for describing different housing structures, which should be further evaluated with appropriate theories (Boelhouwer & van der Heijden, 1993). For example, by combining institutional theories with the SHP approach, the comprehension of the institutional processes affecting the housing system functions may be deepened. From the perspective of SHP, institutions within the spheres of production, consumption and exchange are interlinked through management systems (e.g. institutional practices and means of different actors) (Burke & Hulse, 2010). These interactions affect the governance of the whole SHP system (e.g. finance corporations, home purchasers, building developers and builders and public authorities) (Burke, 2012). In Fig. 3, an example of actors connected to the production, consumption and exchange spheres of SHPs is pictured (as presented in Article I). 16 Acta Wasaensia Figure 3. Actors connected to production, exchange and consumption spheres of structures of housing provision (SHP) The production sphere consists of actors responsible for the construction process, mainly businesses; for example, building developers, builders, material manufacturers, architects, designing engineers and real-estate agents. The exchange sphere consists of financial institutions that enable changes in home ownership, that is, mainly financiers and insurance companies. The consumption sphere actors consist of homeowners, end users, property managers and urban planners as they are responsible for the fulfilment of housing needs. The role of urban planners is evident in the production sphere of the housing (e.g. cherishing building material traditions in cities) (Høibø et al., 2018) as well as in the production sphere through institutional practices such as land allocation processes and procurement processes (Lindblad, 2020). Thus, by connecting institutional theories with the SHP, the complex nature of housing system can be concretised. For example, impacts of particular institutional practices do not necessarily reflect only production, consumption or exchange spheres of the SHP; however, they simultaneously and to a varying extent reflect all of them. As a result, when seeking solutions for specific problems in the housing system (e.g. shortening delays in detached house building processes, as addressed in Article II), understanding these interactions brings clarity in understanding the level of intervention the problems might need to be solved in either straightforward or complex ways; this might require profound Acta Wasaensia 17 scrutiny of the whole housing system. For example, in the case of construction sector institutions, established tendering systems may affect the production sphere, while governmental regulations have a potential impact on all spheres of SHP through housing policies and financial markets (Kadefors, 1995). In addition, some institutions in the housing system are formal (e.g. norms and regulations on land-use planning and building governed through legislation) while others are informal (e.g. established forms of operations to manage building processes within business networks) (e.g. Scott, 2003; Toppinen et al., 2019b). The level of formality affects the management systems that are available for actors to govern the SHPs (e.g. civil servants implementing land-use policies versus private homebuilder bidding tenders), even though the actors may have varying degrees of freedom in choosing their institutional practices and means (Alexander, 2005). Thus, apart from supporting the institutionalised myths (e.g. organisational image), formal organisations must seek flexibility to enhance the efficiency of their managerial practices (Meyer & Rowan, 1977). As a result, considerable variations may be found in institutional practices, even within organisations with high levels of formality. From home purchasers’ point of view, economic institutions affect housing markets through mortgage loan issuance (Kutlukaya & Erol, 2016), which, together with interest rates, comprise the main driver for demand in the housing market (Warnock & Warnock, 2008). In comparison, housing production is affected more by institutions making decisions on the regulatory environment (e.g. land-use policies and building norms) and structures of the construction sector, while the impacts of economic institutional practices are less straightforward (Warnock & Warnock, 2008). Housing suppliers may indirectly benefit from macroeconomic mechanisms by gaining market advantage through preferential market access or capital market inefficiencies, speculative land purchases and taxation factors (Ball et al., 2000). At the EU level, the European Central Bank (ECB) controls financial markets by setting the basic frames for interest rates, which set the frame for Euribor rates. According to the Bank of Finland (2022), the 12-month Euribor is the most widely used reference rate for housing loans in Finland, with over 90% of all housing loans in the country tied to the Euribor rate. Therefore, the development of Euribor rates is important for the Finnish housing and construction sector. Another financial institution that sets a framework for bank capital adequacy, stress testing and market liquidity risk is the Third Basel Accord by the Bank for International Settlements. Locally, the banks are supervised by the Financial Supervisory Authority, which regulates and guides them on, for example, capital adequacy, risk 18 Acta Wasaensia management and home loan collaterals. These financial institutional practices form the base for the exchange sphere actors of the housing system to operate. We already know about the ‘traditional’ economic processes and norms related to, for example, mortgage markets; however, contemporary global megatrends (e.g. climate change, urbanisation and demographic changes) (e.g. Lützkendorf et al., 2011) have become critical to SHPs through several institutional processes and norms emerging in international policies (e.g. European Commission, 2014; Ecodesign Directive, 2009). Although regulation has positive impacts on improving housing standards, enhancing sustainable development and creating business opportunities for forerunner building companies (e.g. Andersson et al., 2007; Lützkendorf et al., 2011), it may also cause additional costs, uncertainty and delays in the building processes (e.g. Al-Khalil & Al-Ghafly, 1999). Delays are among the most crucial obstacles to the success and performance of construction projects (Zarei et al., 2017). From the perspectives of home purchasers, inefficient regulation has especially been found to decrease the diversity of the supply of dwellings in the housing market (Puustinen & Kangasoja, 2009) and delimit the possibilities of house buyers to make choices in their home design (Gibler & Tyvimaa, 2014). From the house builders’ point of view, impractical regulation increases construction costs and decreases the possibilities for innovation diffusion (Puustinen & Kangasoja, 2009), which have been found to be crucial for mind-set renewal in the construction sector (e.g. Holt, 2013). Furthermore, extensive regulation may decrease the number of new buildings constructed (Mayer & Somerville, 2000). 2.2 Institutions Institutional theories focus on tracking the existence of ‘distinctive forms, processes, strategies, outlooks, and competences, as they emerge from patterns of organisational interaction and adaptation’ (Selznik, 1996). One aim of institutional theories is related to the aforementioned, which explains issues such as the scenarios in which institutional elements arise and the extent to which organisational structures are a result of institutionalisation and the extent to which institutionalisation improves organisational performance. (e.g. Zucker, 1987). According to institutional theories (e.g. DiMaggio & Powell, 1983; Zucker, 1987; Selznik, 1996), organisations are influenced by normative pressures for adopting similar patterns of behaviour as those of others (i.e. through institutional practices) to increase coordination and reduce the need for information processing, thus creating efficiency benefits. As information is necessary for any Acta Wasaensia 19 economic activity and none of the actors has more than a limited range of expertise, institutions play a vital role in reducing construction-related risk and uncertainty (Ball, 1998). In addition, since power is distributed unequally among individual actors in social systems, collaboration is a form of being part of a network of relationships and communication flows (Booher & Innes, 2002). However, institutional practices may also constrain behaviour and hinder changes that might have a positive impact on industries in the form of adopting innovations (Kadefors, 1995; Eriksson, 2013). The evolution of institutionalism can be traced back to several decades, during the development of which the concepts of ‘old’ and ‘new’ institutionalism have emerged (Scott, 2008). While ‘old institutionalism’ follows development paths that lead to institutional divergence, ‘new institutionalism’ addresses the issues of institutional homogenisation (DiMaggio & Powell, 1983; Meyer & Rowan, 1977). Homogenisation of practices can be approached by employing the concept of industrial isomorphism, which is composed of power (coercive isomorphism), attraction (normative pressures) and mimesis (mimetic processes) (DiMaggio & Powell, 1983). In addition, Beckert (2010) added competition as a fourth mechanism of industrial isomorphism. Institutions play a central role in human interaction and firms’ business by influencing, for example, their allocation of resources to productive, unproductive or even destructive activities (Baumol, 1990). Institutions are composed of regulative, normative and cultural-cognitive elements that add stability and meaning to social life. For example, in housing markets, the institutional environment is composed of political, environmental, social and demographic, economic, legal and administrative practices and norms, which affect the performance of the overall housing system (Burke, 2012). They are highly resilient to change; however, they evolve over time and vary depending on places or contexts (Scott, 2003). In addition, along with business organisations, political– legal institutions also cause isomorphic pressures, for example, by imitating ‘efficient’ tax laws, labour laws or environmental standards representing ‘regulatory competition’ between states; the latter has become a central feature of political economies (Beckert, 2010). Moreover, previous findings demonstrate the relevant roles of regulators and administrators in facilitating sustainability transformation through institutional practices. While national regulations are important, their implementation takes place at locally. Franzini et al. (2018) noted that municipalities often act as important gatekeepers of urban development and construction, given their authority to oversee or approve zoning and land-use plans. 20 Acta Wasaensia Institutions can be divided into two categories: formal (e.g. laws, norms and regulations) and informal (e.g. tendering systems and homogenised forms of operations) (Scott, 2003; Toppinen et al., 2019b). The level of formality affects the management systems available for actors to govern the SHP (e.g. civil servants implementing land-use policies versus private homebuilder bidding tenders), even though the actors can have varying degrees of freedom for choosing their institutional practices and means (Alexander, 2005). Thus, along with supporting the institutionalised myths (e.g. organisational image), formal organisations are required to seek flexibility to enhance the efficiency of their managerial practices (Meyer & Rowan, 1977). Consequently, there may be considerable variations in institutional practices, even within organisations with high levels of formality. Regulations work as an important force for change in construction. For example, a change in the Swedish building code in 1994 allowed the use of timber as a framing material in multi-storey buildings (Levander et al., 2011), and this has led to an increase in WMC in Sweden. For example, WMC now occurs at a much higher tempo in Sweden than in Finland (Toppinen et al., 2019a). The study by Toppinen et al. (2018) of the environmental concerns motivating WMC in Finland and Sweden found that the emphasis on sustainability is driven by changing regulations (reflecting societal needs). Giesekam et al. (2016) noted the need for ‘new regulatory drivers to complement changing attitudes if embodied carbon is to be established as a mainstream construction industry concern’. In this study, the role of institutions is investigated, mainly from ecological aspects of sustainability pressure to the construction sector. Both formal and informal institutions are considered to put pressure on industry development and changes in the SHP. While the empirical focus in Article II is on institutional practices causing delays to homebuilder families in single-family home markets, this study aims to contribute to the construction sector more widely, especially to industrial wood construction and WMC development. 2.3 Transformation towards sustainability in construction The concept of sustainable development consists of social, environmental and economic pillars (Hill & Bowen, 1997; Elkington, 1997). Thus, sustainable construction denotes the creation of a built environment that incorporates actions supporting the sustainable well-being of social (human), environmental and economic systems. A sustainable built environment is achieved by using resources and operations that have a positive and sustainable impact on these systems (Hill Acta Wasaensia 21 & Bowen, 1997). This study focuses on environmentally sustainable construction, while leaving the social and economic aspects aside. In the empirical part of the study, particularly in Article III, the respondents defined sustainable construction in practice, referring mainly to low-carbon or green construction and sometimes to wood construction. Transformation towards more sustainable construction solutions calls for innovations and cooperation. According to Dubois and Gadde (2002), the construction industry is a loosely coupled system in which a strong reliance on standardised components and interfaces does not advance innovation or technical development. Moreover, project-based firms in this industry need to manage technological innovation and uncertainty across organisational boundaries within networks of interdependent suppliers, customers and regulatory bodies (Gann & Salter, 2000). Complex construction projects bring together a diverse range of professionals who design, build and manage the projects and are active at different stages of the construction process (Slaughter, 2020), thus adding to the challenges of change. Therefore, the transformation towards sustainable construction is not without problems. Concrete and steel are traditionally used structural materials for large-scale buildings, such as non-residential and multi-housing buildings, and while the use of wood has increased, the use of wood is still not a common practice (Gosselin et al., 2017). Previous studies have highlighted this strong path dependency regarding the use of well-established construction methods and materials (Mahapatra & Gustavsson, 2008; Viholainen et al., 2021a). Wood provides new opportunities for construction companies (e.g. through pre-fabrication opportunities); however, challenges in adopting new practices in construction also exist (Brege et al., 2014; Steinhardt et al., 2020; Viholainen et al., 2021a). To understand (sustainability-related) change in construction, several scholars have used multi-level frameworks. Gluch and Svensson (2018) offered a ‘layered understanding of institutional work related to changes in the built environment driven by a sustainability agenda’ and adopted a multi-level approach, where the organisational field, organisation and project levels are analysed to advance sustainability in a municipal context. Steinhardt et al. (2020) and Gann and Salter (2000) observed actors representing the infrastructural framework, technological support, supply network and projects and constructing firms. Bygballe and Ingemansson (2014) investigated innovation in construction by paying attention to the network of involved actors as well as the organisational levels; they analysed the achievement of innovations in construction using three organisational levels: project, company and industry. Finally, the study by Vihemäki et al. (2020) on the 22 Acta Wasaensia facilitation of WMC and intermediaries also showed different actors and activities at multiple levels and focused on, for example, ministries and organisations attending to national aspects. 2.3.1 Multi-level perspective on sustainability transitions in construction industry The concept of transition towards sustainability is defined as a fundamental transformation towards more sustainable modes of production and consumption (Markard, 2012). Sustainability transitions are long-term, multi-dimensional and fundamental transformation processes through which established socio-technical systems shift to more sustainable modes of production and consumption (Markard 2012). They are complex and often involve multiple actors and a range of competing and complementary technologies (Geels, 2004). One such ongoing transition can take place in the construction field and relate to the selection of construction materials and techniques to attain sustainability objectives. Increasing the use of wood as a construction material is an example of such a transition. MLP (Rip & Kemp, 1998; Geels, 2002; Geels, 2004; Geels & Schot, 2007) is a framework for understanding sustainability transitions, which provides an overview of the complex, multi-dimensional changes in socio-technical systems. MLP consists of three analytical levels: niches (where radical innovations are created), socio-technical regimes (which are locked in and stabilised on several dimensions) and an exogenous socio-technical landscape. MLP is not considered a grand theory but rather a middle-range theory building on a combination of institutional theory and business studies (Geels, 2010). MLP analyses a socio- technical system that consists of niches, regimes and landscapes (Smith, 2010). In MLP, niche often represents the local scale, the regime the national scale and the landscape the global scale (Markard, 2012). Transitions are crucially dependent upon activities within niches, where selection pressures prevailing in regimes are less evident. Niches provide ‘protective spaces’ for path-breaking, radical alternatives whose performance may not be competitive against the selection environment prevailing in the regime (Rip, 1992, p. 91; Kemp et al., 1998). Historically, niches that provided seeds for transitions had to overcome the constraining influence of regimes, branch out, link up with wider change processes and drive transformations in those regime structures for the long term. Many niches have not expanded successfully or survived for a long time. (Smith, 2010). Acta Wasaensia 23 Niche-level development is based on the production of valuable lessons, the articulation of supportive institutional requirements and the commitment of a growing network of actors, including potential investors and mainstream users (Raven, 2007). Niche actors need to make considerable cognitive, institutional, economic and political efforts; they need to be persuasive to multiple administrations and stakeholders that may change over time to be able to compete with the incumbent regimes, outperform them and finally take over (Smith, 2010). The regime level is considered relatively stable as an outcome of active resistance to changes by incumbent actors. Policymakers and incumbent firms can often be conceptualised as forming a core alliance at the regime level, which is oriented towards maintaining the status quo (Geels, 2014). Highlighting this dependency, Lindblom (2001) provides an illustrative metaphor: ‘If the market system is a dance, the state provides the dance floor and the orchestra’. (Geels, 2014). The concept of a socio-technical regime contains ‘policy’ as one dimension, in addition to technology, user practices, science, cultural meaning, infrastructure and industry (Geels, 2002). In the socio-technical landscape (such as the EU level), several countries are taking steps in supporting the transition towards the bioeconomy (EU bioeconomy strategy, 2018). The EU bioeconomy strategy contributes to the European Green Deal, which aims to transform the EU into a fair and prosperous society with a modern, resource-efficient and competitive economy that would have no net emissions of greenhouse gases in 2050 and whose growth is decoupled from resource use (The European Green Deal, 2019). Finland was one of the first countries in the EU to set up a nationwide bioeconomy strategy in 2014 (Finnish Bioeconomy strategy). The strategy aims to accelerate the deployment of a sustainable European bioeconomy while contributing to the European Green Deal. In Finland, the bio-built environment, based on wooden buildings and the use of renewable construction materials, is among the top activities in this respect (Bosman & Rotmans, 2016). Furthermore, the government of Finland has set an ambitious goal of double the use of wood in construction during the government term (Government Programme, 2019). Correspondingly, the Ministry for Environment has launched a special national programme for supporting the use of wood in construction and other products (Ministry of the Environment, 2018). These institutional practices aim to promote sustainability transition and highlight the vital role of the state and municipalities as promoters of wood construction at the landscape level. Environmental problems cannot be addressed by incremental improvements and technological fixes; however, they require radical shifts, called ‘sustainability 24 Acta Wasaensia transitions’, to new kinds of socio-technical systems (Elzen et al., 2004; Grin et al., 2010). The central aim of transition research is to conceptualise and explain how radical changes can occur in the way societal functions are fulfilled. Thus, the unit of analysis is primarily situated at the ‘meso’-level of socio-technical systems (Geels, 2004). 2.3.2 Adoption of wood construction and the MLP The success of the sustainability transition and the increased use of wood in the construction field may face resistance from incumbent actors, despite institutional support. Transition literature involves a power struggle between niche actors and dominant incumbents (Edmondson et al., 2019), where incumbent regime actors may use different types of resistance strategies to hinder development (Geels, 2014). As discussed previously, socio-technical landscape-level pressure for sustainability transition includes, for example, regulation and EU-level strategies, whereas regime-level pressure consists of construction companies and other actors adapting to or resisting the pressures. Transitions are seen as crucially dependent upon activities within niches, where selection pressures prevailing in regimes are less evident (Smith, 2010). In the construction industry, many relatively novel wood construction businesses and innovations, especially in the WMC field, can be observed to be taking place at the niche level. Among other resistance strategies, incumbent firms and policymakers often form a core alliance at the socio-technical regime level, oriented towards maintaining the status quo (Geels, 2014). While the construction industry is adopting change, the need for policy mixes to create incentives for actors and support efforts towards sustainability remains important. Meanwhile, as suggested by Edmondson et al. (2019), feedback loops from the industry actors towards regulators remain vital. Acta Wasaensia 25 Figure 4. Sustainability transition, as described by Geels and Schot (2007). At the landscape level, global sustainability challenges require changes at the institutional level. As discussed previously, much emphasis is currently placed on increasing energy efficiency and reducing overall carbon dioxide emissions in the construction industry. According to the framework, these landscape developments put pressure on existing regimes in the construction industry, creating opportunities for novelties. The socio-technical regime translates into an existing SHP with dominant industry actors, policies, technologies, science, cultural meanings and user practices. As the multi-storey construction sector in Finland is dominated by a few large construction companies relying on concrete buildings, resistance naturally occurs towards innovations when aiming to sustain stability at the regime level (Geels & Schot, 2007). According to the framework, few configurations and changes occur 26 Acta Wasaensia in different dimensions of the regime when the industry adjusts to institutional pressures from the landscape level. In the niche-innovations level, industrial wood construction (especially related to WMC) consists of networks of actors, such as CLT producers, element manufacturers and wood construction companies, which are still relatively new and small in size compared to the dominant actors in construction. Standardisation of skills, products and services required to break from niche innovation is still underway before becoming widely adopted as part of SHP in the socio-technical regime. Taking advantage of this ‘window of opportunity’ created by the demand for sustainable solutions is crucial for the adoption of wood construction as a mainstream solution. The change can be observed as supported by external influences in the form of promotion of wood construction by the state through public construction and potential incentives. It has yet to be observed how changes in regulation support or hinder wood construction in terms of formal institutions. 2.4 Analytical framework for the dissertation Following the previous discussion regarding the theoretical background of the study, an analytical framework for the dissertation was formed. As the sustainability pressure can be seen to affect institutional practices in the housing market, the focus of the study is on the specific role of agents and triggers for change, especially in the adoption of wood construction. A specific aim of the study is to provide a better understanding of the factors that enable or hinder sustainability transition in the construction sector and housing markets. This framework provides support for empirical data collection and analysis; however, it is noteworthy that it has been developed through an iterative process between theory, literature and empirical analysis. This analytical framework is not intended to work as a theoretical framework; however, it merely provides guidance for the Articles and their analysis. In Fig. 5, the Articles have been positioned according to their research aims and contributions. Acta Wasaensia 27 Figure 5. Analytical framework for the dissertation. Article I provides an extensive review of the current literature on WMC development in Nordic countries. Through the aforementioned analytical framework, this article aims to identify agents of change in the industrial wood construction sector in relation to demand (homebuyers), supply (business actors) and local-level governance (municipalities). Furthermore, the article synthesises potential triggers of change in wood construction by analysing factors that work as enablers of or barriers to the increased use of wood in construction. The article applies the SHP framework for thematising findings. Finally, the literature review aims to fill the gaps found in the literature, suggest future research areas and guide the role of the other research articles covered in this study. Sustainability pressure Institutional practices Formal and informal Agents of change in construction Businesses Municipalities Homebuyers Triggers of change in industrial wood construction Enablers Barriers Sustainability transition and changes in SHP Article I: Systematic literature review of wood construction demand, supply and local-level governance factors Article II: Effects of institutional practices on delays in construction – Views of Finnish homebuilder families Article III: The role of municipalities in transformatio n towards more sustainable construction: The case of wood construction in Finland 28 Acta Wasaensia Article II provides an overview of Finnish homebuilder families that are facing challenges in their construction projects. The article aims to provide new knowledge on the role of institutional practices in the context of single-family home construction. The article analyses empirical data by applying the SHP framework together with institutional practices, as identified by Kadefors (1995). Article II focuses on the experiences of homebuilders in the institutional practices followed by local-level governance actors and construction businesses. In particular, the article highlights municipalities as local-level authorities governing land-use planning, zoning and granting building permits required for construction projects. For the dissertation purposes, the article further provides an overview of several formal and informal institutions affecting the development of SHP. Article III emphasises the role of municipalities in the sustainability transition. It takes a deeper look into the role of municipalities in the construction sector. Empirically, the article covers several practices adopted by municipalities to advance sustainability in construction. For dissertation purposes, the article further analyses triggers of change in wood construction. The article identifies enablers of and barriers to industrial wood construction based on the views of decision makers in local-level governance, enhancing understanding of prerequisites for changes in the SHP and sustainability transition in construction sector. Acta Wasaensia 29 3 METHODOLOGY This chapter describes the underpinnings employed in this dissertation and the three research articles in terms of the research methodology and philosophical concepts used. Chapter 3.1 discusses the research paradigm of this dissertation. Chapter 3.2 presents the empirical data collection technique used and analyses of the three Articles. Chapter 3.3 provides the assessment of quality of the dissertation in terms of trustworthiness and validity of the study. 3.1 Research paradigm and methodology The term ‘paradigm’ refers to the philosophical assumptions of the research. The pre-suppositions and views of the world underlying different paradigms vary. Thus, the research topic and phenomenon, together with the researcher’s view of the world, influence the choice of paradigm. The chosen paradigm and the background assumptions adopted in the research form the basis for the research and contribute to the definition of the research objectives, implementation methods and results. Therefore, it is essential for the researcher to be aware of the background assumptions of their work and the limitations they impose (Puusa & Juuti, 2020). These assumptions consider research ontology, epistemology and methodology (e.g. Tronvoll et al., 2011). This chapter discusses the understanding of the research ontology, epistemology and methodology adopted in this dissertation. Ontology refers to the nature of reality; thus, it is concerned with the following factors: what kind of reality exists, how it looks, what entities are there in that reality and how they interact (Tronvoll et al., 2011). Ontological considerations are based on questions about the nature of social entities, ranging from objectivistic to subjectivist views (Creswell, 2013). Ontological assumptions are argued to influence and guide all subsequent assumptions the researcher possesses, which makes it fundamentally important for the researcher to recognise and explicitly address them (Tronvoll et al., 2011). Epistemology is closely related to ontology, as it concerns the researcher’s assumptions about the bases of knowledge, especially how the researcher perceives the world and how these perceptions are communicated to others as knowledge (Burrell & Morgan, 1979). Knowledge can be seen as hard, objective and passable (positivism), or soft, subjective and experiential (anti-positivism). Positivism seeks the regularities of phenomena and cause-and-effect relationships to explain or predict events, while anti-positivism seeks unique information and is committed to people’s perceptions (Puusa & Juuti, 2020). Tronvoll et al. (2011) state that 30 Acta Wasaensia epistemology ultimately comprises two dimensions: one that concerns how the world is perceived and the second that defines the relationship between the researcher and his research subject. This dissertation leans towards constructivism as an ontological stance. The research is context specific and views different stakeholders’ insights on sustainability transformation within the construction sector. The main concepts of the study on institutions, SHP and sustainability transformation are social constructs developed by practitioners or scholars. Considering the epistemological assumptions, it leans towards anti-positivism (interpretivism). Evolution or interpretivism can also be seen as the main ontology for the MLP of the sustainability transition framework (Geels, 2010), supporting the use of these assumptions. The study is data driven and can be considered using a mixed methods approach, even as it leans towards a qualitative research design in line with epistemological and ontological assumptions. From a methodological perspective, an abductive research approach is pursued in this study to support empirically based theory building (Timmermans & Tavory, 2012). Both qualitative and quantitative data and analyses were employed, depending on the article at hand. In the case of Article I, a literature review based on an analysis of peer-reviewed articles is presented, which utilises thematic coding based on the literature searches. In Articles II and III, qualitative thematic coding was used based on data collected with semi-structured surveys. Quantitative analyses are based mainly on the use of secondary data to support the findings of qualitative analyses. 3.2 Empirical data collection and analysis Table 1 summarises the empirical data collection of the research Articles. Each of the Articles consists of its own primary data utilizing both qualitative and quantitative approaches. Use of semi-structured surveys is highlighted in large sample sizes, whereas the final analysis in most of the cases consists of a specific sub-sample (through thematic coding), which is subsequently analysed thoroughly. Chapters 3.2.1, 3.2.2 and 3.2.3 introduce the research methods used in the articles in more detail. Acta Wasaensia 31 Table 1. Summary of type of the data and method of analysis used in the Articles. Article Article I: Systematic literature review of wood construction demand, supply and local-level governance factors Article II: Effects of institutional practices on delays in construction – Views of Finnish homebuilder families Article III: The role of municipalities in transformation towards a more sustainable construction: The case of wood construction in Finland Research question addressed RQ1: Which factors affect the wooden multi- storey construction market development? RQ2: What is the role of the institutional practices in the delays experienced by homebuilders during their construction processes? RQ3: What is the role of local-level governance actors in municipalities to drive sustainability transformation towards wood construction? Type of data Literature, peer- reviewed articles on wooden multi-storey construction, published between 2000 and 2020 Qualitative data gathered from homebuilder families via phone interviews during January 2015 Two types of qualitative data: a survey (via telephone) and personal interviews of municipal decision makers conducted in 2020 Sample size Final sample of 42 peer- reviewed articles out of initial screening of 7117 articles Data sample of 2404 homebuilders with 661 respondents of whom 168 interviewees had experienced delays in construction project. Survey sample of 293 municipal representatives and in-depth interviews with nine civil servants and five business representatives Method of analysis Systematic literature review following the PRISMA guidelines Data analysis in four stages with in-depth content analysis of the final sample Quantitative and qualitative analysis: thematisation of data in using theory and data- driven approaches Mixed methods: survey data was analysed using thematic coding and descriptive results Personal interview transcripts used to enrich the findings on practices adopted by the cities 32 Acta Wasaensia 3.2.1 Article I: Systematic literature review of wood construction demand, supply and local-level governance factors. By following the PRISMA method, the article captured literature based on articles published between 2000 and 2020 in international peer-reviewed scientific journals. Searches were carried out in two databases (Scopus and Web of Science) using pre-determined search words for titles, abstracts and keywords. The pre- determined keywords were defined based on the existing information received from the literature employed. The search words were tested and refined by the researchers based on the initial findings to include key literature in the research area. This was done to enhance the validity (i.e. no exclusion of relevant literature, exclusion of literature entirely from different fields of research) of the material to be found. As the method of analysis, a systematic literature approach was employed, since it is a transparent, rigorous and detailed methodology that is used to support decision-making (Tranfield et al., 2003). This method may also be used to build theory by accumulating knowledge and evidence after analysing a large number of studies and methods, thereby increasing the consistency of the results and conclusions (Akobeng, 2005; Denicol et al., 2020). This study follows the PRISMA guidelines of Moher et al. (2009), and the systematic literature review was performed in the following four stages: The first phase of the literature review process comprised the general identification of the literature. This was executed using the combined sets of search words defined by the research team based on the literature that was known to be broadly related to the scope of this study. As an outcome of the database searches executed during the identification phase, 7117 document results were received in Scopus and 5491 in Web of Science, respectively. After the exclusion of irrelevant journals and titles, 825 articles remained for further screening (440 in Scopus and 385 in Web of Science). In this phase, duplicates were also removed from the search results, resulting in a total of 696 papers. The second phase of the literature review involved screening of the 696 articles, which were conducted by the research team as a case-by-case evaluation. In this phase, 528 articles were excluded based on a full abstract reading using preliminary addressed exclusion criteria. The list of excluded studies mostly consisted of articles that did not address wood construction or had a strictly technical focus (i.e. no information to add knowledge on WMC market development). After the screening phase, 168 articles were left for further consideration in the eligibility assessment. Acta Wasaensia 33 The third phase, i.e. eligibility assessment, included a complete reading of papers of 168 articles. Each full-text article was read independently by two researchers, who assessed the eligibility of the individual studies in terms of their contribution to this literature review. After the individual readings, the research team discussed the evaluation results together to strengthen the validity of the results. As an outcome of the eligibility assessment phase, 126 full-text articles were excluded from further reading. Articles were excluded if they did not address multi-storey buildings, did not focus on the market development perspectives or focused on other types of buildings than residential construction. In addition, some articles were excluded due to their unavailability in electronic format. Furthermore, a few articles were found to be published in non-peer-reviewed journals; hence, they were excluded. After the eligibility assessment, 42 papers were included in the initial material of this study. As the final phase of the literature review, all 42 peer-reviewed articles were thoroughly analysed. First, the focus at this stage of the analysis was to categorise the contents of the materials into the themes of enabling factors and barriers that affect the potential for WMC market development. As an analytical framework to link the results with housing markets, the SHP framework was employed. The categorisation process also included identification of the key actors whom the literature mentioned to be connected with different WMC market actions. In this phase, the research methods and analytical approaches used in the 42 studies were also studied to gain knowledge on the approaches that had addressed the topic of increase in WMC market demand in the previous studies. This was to explore any possible addition of, for example, an understanding regarding different types of methodological and analytical developments needed in academic research to provide new information on the WMC in the context of housing markets in the future. 3.2.2 Article II: Effects of institutional practices on delays in construction – Views of Finnish homebuilder families The analysis employed qualitative data gathered from homebuilder families via phone interviews in January 2015. The data gathering process was targeted at 2,404 families, who had acquired building permits in Finland to start a detached house construction project in the fall of 2014. The data sample for analysis consisted of 661 respondents, of whom 168 interviewees, representing 26% of the 661 respondents, had experienced major delays in their building projects. Overall, the survey consisted of 24 questions, of which questions on the level of pre-fabrication of the building project were addressed in the analysis of this study 34 Acta Wasaensia together with open-ended questions related to delays faced by the respondents. Data were quantitatively and qualitatively analysed in all three stages. The quantitative analysis was based on calculus of frequencies and the statistical non-parametric Mann–Whitney U test (also known as Wilcoxon rank sum test), executed with IBM SPSS Statistics software to check whether statistical indications of connections between the existence of major building delays and the level of pre- fabrication could be found. In the qualitative analysis, data thematisation was employed to comprehend the magnitude of institutional practices as factors having negative effects on detached house building projects. As a method, thematisation is suitable for evaluating a specific phenomenon in concrete contexts, especially as it asks respondents to describe their internally meaningful experiences without pre-determined structures (Holloway & Todres, 2003). In this study, thematisation was employed both as data-driven and theory-driven approaches to independently identify the categories of delays from theoretical assumptions and the details recognised in reference to theoretical background on institutions and SHP. 3.2.3 Article III: The role of municipalities in transformation towards a more sustainable construction: The case of wood construction in Finland The study relies on mixed methods and two types of the data: a (telephone) survey and personal interviews conducted in 2020. The survey results provided us with a comprehensive view of the current practices of Finnish municipalities in the area of promoting sustainable construction. The interviews also provided us with more detailed examples of the practices adopted to enhance sustainable development and helped us thoroughly understand the reasons and strategic aims that influenced these practices. First, the survey conducted among municipal representatives consisted of 293 (out of 294) mainland Finland municipalities that were contacted for a telephone interview. The survey was directed at civil servants responsible for construction in their municipality. An open-ended format for the questions was used to provide the respondents with the scope to raise any topic and mention any number of practices. Data collection took place during October–November 2020, when sustainability-related issues in construction were widely promoted in Finland; wood construction was emphasised in the new government programme by Prime Minister Marin (Government Programme, 2019), and in September 2020, national targets for increasing public sector wood construction were launched Acta Wasaensia 35 (Ministry of the Environment, 2020b). It provided us with a comprehensive but relatively acute understanding of the local-level governance mechanisms that support sustainable construction, especially wood construction. Second, to gain a deeper and richer understanding of municipalities’ roles in transforming construction, personal interviews were conducted with representatives of selected municipalities. These interviews took place in autumn 2020, that is, in parallel with (or soon after) the telephone survey and before analysing the survey results. Nine civil servants who represented seven municipalities were interviewed. Furthermore, five business representatives were interviewed to gain insights into how businesses view municipalities’ activities on these matters. Our respondent selection for personal interviews was based on both intensity of knowledge and richness in perspectives (Creswell, 2013, pp. 156–158). To cover the former aspect, information-rich cases were aimed; that is, municipalities that we knew (based on public data) had an interest in more sustainable construction. Particularly, municipalities that had promoted sustainable construction in their operations by way of, for instance, launching wood construction were searched for in-depth interviews. 3.3 Quality assessment of the research The quality assessment of the research mainly uses the following three concepts: trustworthiness, reliability and ethics. Naturally, these concepts are interconnected and complicated entities (Puusa & Juuti, 2020). This chapter discusses the trustworthiness, reliability, validity and ethics assessment of the study in more detail. 3.3.1 Trustworthiness Trustworthiness refers to the extent to which readers of the study accept the results as true and trust that the research data have been properly collected and carefully analysed. While objectivity is a central goal of science, complete objectivity is practically impossible in social science research. Objectivity refers to the ability to distinguish a researcher from a research subject so that the researcher’s own assumptions and measures do not affect the characteristics and results of the research subject. The trustworthiness of qualitative research is enhanced when the researcher seeks to identify his or her own subjectivity. In this case, the aim is to 36 Acta Wasaensia increase objectivity by identifying and highlighting one’s own subjectivity (Puusa & Juuti, 2020). In this study, the processes of data collection and analysis of each research Article have been made as transparent as possible to improve the trustworthiness of the research process (as covered in Chapter 3.2). Most of the data was collected from semi-structured survey and interview, and then the data were coded. Subsequently, a discussion of quality assessment of the research (in this Chapter 3.3) followed, including validity, reliability and ethics assessment of the study to provide readers a better view to assess the trustworthiness of the research. As scientific writing includes the rigorous use of references to original sources of knowledge, the researcher’s own thoughts are mostly present in the Discussion and Conclusions (Chapters 5 and 6, respectively). Furthermore, the general limitations of this research are discussed in Chapter 6.3. 3.3.2 Reliability In qualitative research, reliability can be addressed in several ways. It often refers to the similarity or stability of responses when using multiple sets of data (Puusa & Juuti, 2020). A key part of the analysis is the so-called inter-coder agreement between researchers, which was based on commonly agreed rules for coding and thematisation in the analysis of research data together with transcriptions, in which case several researchers conducted the analysis (Creswell, 2013). All the empirical data in the study (especially related to Articles II and III) consisted of open-ended interview questions written in text format. The coding and thematisation were mainly carried out by the author and supported by the views of the co-authors in each of the individual research articles at hand. The analysis phase included discussions with the co-authors involved in that study. In connection with the literature review (in Article I), the coverage and reliability of the data were enhanced using two different datasets (data triangulation) obtained by the same data collection and analysis methods by two researchers separately. The analysis of the data was still carried out independently by at least two researchers before the actual synthesis (researcher gypsum). The process was carried out and documented using the PRISMA method, which was used in the literature reviews. At every step of the process, the researchers sat down and agreed on codes and themes as well as checked obscure articles. The use of this inter-coder agreement to analyse research contributed to improving the quality and reliability of research. Acta Wasaensia 37 3.3.3 Validity The validation of qualitative research involves an attempt to assess observations as accurately as possible, as described by the researcher and participants. Validation also suggests that all research reports are the author’s own presentations. A researcher can use so-called ‘validation strategies’ to document the accuracy of his or her research (Creswell, 2013). This study used several validation strategies to enhance the quality of the research. First, triangulation between different data sources, methods and researchers was implemented, as described earlier. Each of the research articles contains a detailed description of the research methods to provide the readers with the opportunity to assess the accuracy and credibility of the results. Furthermore, all three research articles went through a peer-review process (at least two anonymous reviewers per article) and were published in well-established scientific journals. 3.3.4 Research ethics Ethics refer to the ethical principles followed by the researcher, which concern both the research methods and analysis phases. Research must seek to achieve good things for the people it targets and not cause harm or endanger the people under study. This can be challenging in practice when people become interdependent (Puusa & Juuti, 2020.) From an ethical point of view, two key themes emerged from the starting point of my doctoral thesis on the ethical challenges of related research: affiliation and data management. In affiliation, it is important to identify relationships with research funders and their potential to influence research issues and results. Research funding for this doctoral thesis has been obtained from several sources that have made the research financially possible. Two of the articles (Articles I and III) were created through independent research projects in which the projects were financed mainly by public or non-profit organisations, in particular by the Ministry of the Environment and the European Regional Development Fund. The research topic and competitiveness of Finnish wood construction have been a topic of common interest for financing organisations. However, the funders have not influenced the research topic, data collection, analysis or results. In this respect, the affiliation has not jeopardised the independent, high-quality research conducted for this dissertation. However, a few ethical challenges related to data management and transparency could be recognised. First, existing empirical material was collected through 38 Acta Wasaensia interviews and therefore raised privacy and confidentiality issues (especially in the case of consumer interviews). The processing of the material was carried out by the concerned persons for the investigation according to the GDPR (General data protection regulation) principles, and the management of the material was strongly protected. The first-hand research material was not made publicly transparent (excluding material from the literature review, where there are no similar challenges) and the materials were anonymised during the coding and transcription phases. The anonymity of individual respondents was maintained, as the research data were quite extensive for a qualitative study (100–300 respondents) and did not contain sensitive material. In turn, the lack of publication and the closure of some of this material may pose a downturn in the transparency of the research. In this sense, a compromise had to be made in which full transparency of the material had not been made available due to privacy concerns. However, the methodology of the data collection of studies, the content of the data and the research questions have been described as comprehensively as possible in each of the Articles. In addition, the Articles went through the peer- review process. Acta Wasaensia 39 4 SUMMARY OF THE ARTICLES In this chapter, the main results and conclusions of the three Articles are presented. Chapter 4.4 summarises the findings according to the analytical framework of the dissertation. 4.1 Article I: Aims, results and conclusions Article I aims to create a better understanding of WMC market development by conducting a systematic literature analysis of international peer-reviewed studies published between 2000 and 2020. It focuses on the role of WMC in the housing markets in terms of factors like demand, supply and local-level governance. The article (1) synthesises the key barriers and enabling factors for WMC market growth; (2) identifies the actors connected to WMC market development; and (3) summarises the research methods and analytical approaches used in the previous studies. As a systematic method, the article employs PRISMA guidelines to conduct literature searches in two databases: Web of Science and Scopus. By using pre-determined keywords, the searches resulted in a sample of 696 articles, of which 42 full articles were included in the content analysis after the selection procedure. As a general outcome, the analysis shows that the number of published peer- reviewed articles on WMC has increased, especially after 2017, indicating an increasing interest among scholars in WMC. Regarding the geographical focus of the studies, the results indicate that WMC market development research has been dominated by studies connected to the Nordic region. In reference to the SHP framework, the analysis showed that information in the literature solely addressed views linked with production and consumption spheres, while no information related to the exchange sphere existed in the 42 peer-reviewed articles employed as the material of this study. Related to the first aim to synthesise key barriers and enabling factors for WMC market growth, the study resulted in categorisation of eight general themes that emerged in the literature. These themes were named as follows: (1) sustainability in building, (2) system development, (3) innovations, (4) business collaboration, (5) stakeholder awareness, (6) institutional changes, (7) urban planning and (8) market demand. The reviewed literature provided a more nuanced understanding of production sphere enablers and barriers, while the availability of information on the consumption sphere was considerably scarcer. The results showed cost- efficiency gains from industrialised pre-fabrication and perceived sustainability benefits by consumers and architects, which enabled a diffusion of WMC market 40 Acta Wasaensia with aspects related to system development and institutional changes. Meanwhile, the barriers were mostly connected to ‘system development’ (e.g., lack of knowledge and information, limited experience with building with wood), ‘stakeholder awareness’ (e.g. negative perceptions of product features such as fire safety, water control, durability), and ‘business collaboration’ (e.g. lack of collaboration, lack of table relationships). In addition, in relation to urban planning, discrepancies in actor perception of the land allocation process and deficiencies in municipality capacities for public procurement processes were mentioned in the literature. Regarding the second aim, key actors covered in the literature were businesses (e.g. contractors, element manufacturers and architects) involved in the wood construction value chains, while residents and members of the WMC business ecosystem, such as public authorities, were seldom addressed. Because construction industry requires a high degree of specialisation at local and project levels, future development would require incorporation of a highly diverse set of actors and related skills in the production sphere (Toppinen et al., 2019a). Small- scale actors often have limited resources to use new technologies and acquire new skills. Possibilities to start using new building systems and changing business logics may be supported through collaboration activities (Brege et al., 2014), which would enhance the accumulation of special expertise and knowledge to build with wood as a part of project-driven business ecosystems (Viholainen et al., 2021a). Regarding the third research aim on approaches used in the previous studies, 67% (28 out of 42) articles used a qualitative approach, 24% (10 out of 42) used a quantitative approach and 9% (4 out of 42) used a mixed approach. Among the articles that used a qualitative approach, the most used way to describe the study was to call it a case study or a multiple-case study (n = 16). Almost all of the articles with a quantitative approach were described as a survey (n = 9). The most used data collection method among the qualitative articles was interviews, which was used in 25 out of 28 articles, although only 14 of these articles relied solely on interviews as a data collection method. Other data collection methods in the qualitative approaches were the use of focus groups, literature collection, secondary data collection, surveys and workshops. In the quantitative articles, nine out of ten used a questionnaire/survey to collect the data. As a conclusion of our study, more research is needed on the factors that affect the demand for WMC homes (i.e. consumption sphere) in the housing markets. So far, the focus of research on WMC apartments has mostly been on their supply (i.e. production sphere) in the housing markets, while consumer expectations for WMC homes have gained considerably less attention. In addition, information on the Acta Wasaensia 41 role of financial issues, such as the role of mortgages and insurances (i.e., the exchange sphere) affecting both the supply and demand of homes, is entirely lacking in relation to WMC market development. However, to make a change in the construction sector, WMC must also be viewed in the context of the housing markets, not only through supply mechanisms mainly connected with technological benefits and cost efficiency. The results of the article suggest that some of the key enablers include benefits arising from increased pre-fabrication, such as increased material efficiency in construction processes, resulting in lower material costs and rapid installation (Persson et al., 2009; Roos et al., 2010; Markström et al., 2018). In addition, wood is perceived to bring benefits to the WMC, especially among wood manufacturing companies and architects (Nordin et al., 2010; Riggio et al., 2020; Peters et al., 2020), but this push is not sufficient, at least not yet, for rapid acceleration of the WMC business. As a barrier to system development, the lack of experience of using wood in multi-storey construction and the path dependencies with concrete and steel construction continue to be the key hindrances for mainstreaming of the WMC (Mahapatra & Gustavsson, 2008; Riala & Ilola, 2014; Hemström et al., 2017). However, the demand-side enablers and barriers remain unknown due to a gap in research. Although housing markets function as a system of production, consumption and exchange, our results show that the information on WMC market development is still under-developed. In reference to structures of housing production (SHP) (Burke & Hulse, 2010), actors in the exchange sphere are important as intermediates in the housing markets (e.g. mortgages, insurances) (Österling, 2017), but according to our results, no research has been conducted on their roles in the WMC market. 4.2 Article II: Aims, results and conclusions The purpose of Article II is to address institutional practices as causes of delays in detached house building processes in Finland. According to the collected data, 168 (26%) of the respondents faced delays during their building projects. Reasons for delays were mostly connected to building permits, finance and general life situations. In addition, from the purchasers’ viewpoint, practices associated with the construction sector institutions were found to be significant causes of detached house building project delays (altogether 68% of all experiences of delays) in different phases of project implementation. 42 Acta Wasaensia Based on the findings and in reference to the SHP, for homebuilder families, most of the identified causes of delays were caused by institutional practices of public authorities or homebuilders’ own skills and capabilities within the production sphere. The results on the role of public authorities in building delays indicate that the level of formality of a particular institution does not necessarily mean well- functioning institutional practices. Instead, a high level of institutionalisation may produce inefficiencies (also noted by Meyer & Rowan, 1977). In the case of the empirical data, bureaucracy related to acquiring building permits seemed to cause delays in the project. These were not only caused by the regulation itself but also by ‘human factors’ related to the persons in charge (e.g. building inspectors’ summer holidays prolonging the building permission processing). Compared to aspects in production, issues linked to the exchange sphere played a minor role (e.g. financing for house building). In addition, problems connected solely to the consumption sphere (e.g. inability to make decisions on purchasing or unavailability of appropriate house models) were not mentioned at all. In reference to the SHP, the results showed that in the context of Finnish detached home-building processes, production and consumption spheres are closely intertwined, due to which the usage of SHP seemed to provide useful insights into the multi-dimensional nature of institutions, practices and means affecting the detached house purchasing system, especially in the context of Finland. As a difference to the speculative building processes (i.e. professional builders act as managers in the production sphere), Finnish homebuilder families have two-fold position both as customers in the consumption sphere and organisers of work in the production sphere. As a theoretical contribution, the article identified connections between institutional structures (Kadefors, 1995) and empirical building project phases, indicating the applicability of institutional approach in studying detached house building within the SHP system. However, theoretical development is needed to more transparently describe the roles of actors within and between specific institutions. This illustrates how different actors, with their real-life practices, are positioned in the SHP system, affecting the implementation and outcomes of building processes. In Article II, a preliminary examination was made by positioning the results in the SHP framework. In a broader context and future research, this approach might bring new avenues for analysing the obstacles and drivers of change in the housing markets. Regarding managerial implications, an important outcome is that although the detached house building process is characterised by complexity (i.e. many issues linked to pre-planning and planning, preparation and building phases), the Acta Wasaensia 43 processes handled by house building companies had functioned quite well. In all, less than 5% of the delays caused by the companies could be identified. Article II also covers insights into the functioning of pre-fabrication in construction. According to the results, the level of pre-fabrication did not have a statistically significant relationship with the occurrence of major building project delays. Thus, from the perspective of potential business development towards even higher levels of pre-fabrication, the result indicates that, as such, there are no special business risks related to the level of pre-fabrication from purchasers’ point of view in relation to construction sector institutions. Compared to industrial building processes (e.g. multi-story houses) managed by professional building developers, the detached house building processes are run by private house purchasers, usually without any professional education in construction. Moreover, since detached houses are usually built as one-off projects, purchasers do not benefit from the institutional accumulation of knowledge and skills. This creates a knowledge gap between different actors in the construction process and prohibits institutional practices related to ‘Learning and Routines’ to strongly involve or evolve in the process. This major difference compared to other building types in the SHP tends to decrease the quality of construction (e.g. Ball, 1998). To develop the project organisation in the detached house business, building companies could take a bigger role as a ‘node’ of information sharing and in the diffusion of skills, such as through the provision of services, which would enhance risk management among purchasers and companies themselves. For example, if purchasers were more familiar with the bureaucracy and documentation needed during the building process, along with the financial requirements and general issues related to scheduling, the processes of individual purchasers would also become more predictable from the building companies’ point of view. If considered as obstacles within companies, formal institutions, such as processes and norms in ‘governmental regulations’ and ’standardisation of skills and knowledge’, may discourage the development of innovations (see, e.g. Blayse & Manley, 2004; Gibler & Tyvimaa, 2014; Lähtinen et al., 2019b). However, the results show that possibilities exist to discover new business solutions in detached house markets by approaching the roles of different actors in building projects from new angles. 44 Acta Wasaensia 4.3 Article III: Aims, results and conclusions Article III investigates the role of municipalities in driving sustainability transformation in construction, particularly in relation to wood construction. Here, sustainable construction denotes different actions taken to advance low- carbon or green building, where the promotion of wood construction is a potential avenue and this an area for focus. The empirical study relies on data collected in Finland through a comprehensive survey of municipalities and qualitative interviews. Article III poses the following (empirical) research questions: ‘What specific actions are municipalities taking concerning sustainable construction?’ and, in particular, ‘To what extent and how is wood construction promoted in the municipalities?’ A description of these municipal activities contributes to the analysis of the role that municipalities (as representatives of the public sector) play in the ongoing sustainability-related societal transformation that involves construction. To gain a deeper and richer understanding of municipalities’ roles in transforming construction, personal interviews were conducted with nine representatives of seven municipalities that had an interest in enhancing sustainable construction. The results showed that most of the Finnish municipalities (57%) had goals and practices related to enhancing sustainable construction. A total of 166 municipality representatives replied with practices related to sustainable construction, and 127 municipalities denied having such practices. Key factors in municipal considerations are goals like energy efficiency and carbon neutrality. Building according to regulations and norms related to construction also influences municipal activities, highlighting the importance of institutional practices. Other common practices included construction of long-lasting and sustainable buildings, use of renewable energy sources and promotion of wood construction. The results show that Finnish municipalities are taking steps towards more sustainable construction. Wood construction is gaining attention; however, it still plays a minor role in municipal activities when compared to other important sustainability aspects such as energy efficiency issues, life cycle thinking and sustainable energy solutions. The study seeks various drivers of and barriers to wood construction in municipalities. The majority of the municipalities (191 or 65% of all Finnish municipalities) stated that there were no barriers to wood construction, while 97 municipalities discussed barriers to wood construction. The most important theme that arose was perceived higher costs, especially in connection to large buildings. Other major concerns were the poor economic situation of the particular Acta Wasaensia 45 municipality, prevailing traditions in the construction and restricting building regulations. Respondents’ comments on prevailing negative attitudes (or even prejudices), limited supplies and a lack of skills seem to characterise the perceived state of the wood construction industry. These views highlight the need to gather both knowledge and experience to advance the wider adoption of wood in construction. When considering the drivers of wood construction, the results provided very positive views. Only 19% of the respondents found no factors in promoting wood construction in their municipality. The most important driver for wood construction was land-use planning and zoning, which was mentioned by 40 municipalities. Municipalities may enhance wood construction by zoning land for wood construction. Another notable factor was the role of local actors, indicating municipalities’ interest in building and supporting local resources and businesses. Other important factors included enhancing wood construction through existing traditions (e.g. detached homes traditionally built with wood), implementation of environmental objectives to new building areas, general positive demand for wood construction and subsidies or other support to wood construction. In addition, some municipalities actively run their own construction and promotion projects that implement wood construction. Personal interviews with municipality representatives supported the survey results while contributing to public sector work for sustainable construction in more detail. The strategic focus for many municipalities lies on decreasing carbon emissions and energy savings, considering construction as a critical strategic area for making effort. Despite this, only a few municipalities explicitly considered wood construction as a tool to promote sustainability targets. Large-scale wood construction (such as large public buildings and multi-storey construction) was seen as a novelty, and municipalities had typically only realised smaller wood construction. Wood construction was often perceived to be a more expensive option, and support from the Ministry of Environment was seen as fairly important in speeding up many processes and pilot projects. The role of the ministry was seen as a promoter of wood construction in terms of not only supportive funding but also providing information, instructions and raising new ideas. The national targets for wood construction (launched in September 2020) had not yet had any notable effect among the municipalities. Locally, cooperation and collaboration between different actors (businesses, citizens and experts in the field) was important while considering the promotion of wood construction. While the respondents noted different actors’ roles in wood construction, the emerging overall picture gives the municipality a key role in 46 Acta Wasaensia influencing how construction develops with linkages to local politics as well. To conclude, despite several positive examples of drivers of wood construction, it seems that it would take time before municipalities adopt wood construction more extensively. Simultaneously, their position at the intersection of different actors and activities within housing provision provides a sound base for promoting sustainable construction. 4.4 Summarising the findings This chapter briefly summarises the findings of the research articles and their contributions to the research questions. 4.4.1 Factors affecting WMC market development Related to the first research question, Article I covers factors that enable or hinder the development of WMC market based on an extensive literature analysis. According to the results, enabling factors for WMC market diffusion include benefits from pre-fabrication (e.g. reduced material costs and efficiency in construction processes) together with perceived sustainability benefits. The findings were further supported in the study provided in Article III, with views from the Finnish municipalities, where the drivers for wood construction were found to be the practices like land-use planning and zoning adopted in the municipalities. Other drivers that municipalities mentioned were their interest in supporting local businesses, enhancing existing construction traditions and implementing environmental objectives in new building areas and supportive institutional practices. In addition, some municipalities actively run their own construction and promotion projects that implement wood construction supported by national programmes promoting wood construction. This is in line with the findings of Article II on the importance of well-functioning local-level governance practices to enhance the successful implementation of building projects. Barriers to wood construction consist most notably of a lack of experience with wood, higher costs associated with wood construction, and strong path dependencies with concrete construction, as identified in the literature covered in Article I. These findings were also supported by views from the municipal decision- makers in Article III, who mentioned limited supplies and restrictive building regulations as key barriers to mainstreaming WMC market development. However, it is important to acknowledge that the majority of Finnish municipalities covered in Article III reported no existing major barriers. Acta Wasaensia 47 While the empirical findings contribute to the existing literature by supporting the findings, more research would be valuable on how wood construction value chains can challenge the dominant concrete-based construction regime in markets where wood construction has gained more market share. Furthermore, as concluded in Article I, the focus in the current scientific literature has been on aspects related to the production sphere of the SHP system, whereas no research was found on the exchange sphere and only limited studies related to the consumption sphere. 4.4.2 Role of institutional practices in delays experienced by homebuilders during their construction processes Related to the second research question, Article II studied the role of institutional practices in causing delays in construction. The empirical data consisted of results from Finnish homebuilders, creating an interesting base for studying a construction project in a simplified setting where one actor, the homebuilder, covers both the production and consumption spheres of the SHP system. The results of the study acknowledge the role of both formal and informal institutions. In particular, regulation and bureaucracy by public authorities, together with homebuilder’s lack of skills and standardisation, were found to be the most common causes of delays during the construction of such projects. Article III further found that national programmes promoting wood construction have induced gradual changes and led to some municipal pilot projects, thus highlighting the active role of the state and ministries. In Article II, in reference to the SHP framework, institutional practices causing delays are mostly affected within the production sphere. However, the role of pre- fabrication in delays in construction processes was not evident. This is also in line with the findings in Article I, which highlight increased pre-fabrication as a driver for WMC development. In Finnish detached house construction, the industrialisation of wood building processes has been a dominant regime. From the perspective of WMC market development, research focusing on technological advancements may be a sign of the next phase in the transition from the niche level towards a new regime in a more sustainable construction system. In Article II, issues linked to the exchange sphere played a minor role, even though the financing capabilities of homebuilders were often discussed. According to the results, institutional practices causing delays that are solely related to the consumption sphere were not mentioned in the study at all. 48 Acta Wasaensia 4.4.3 Role of local-level governance actors in municipalities to drive sustainability transformation towards wood construction The third research question was dedicated to studying the role of local-level governance actors in municipalities to drive sustainability transformation towards wood construction. In Article I, key actors covered in the existing literature are mainly business actors (e.g. contractors, manufacturers and architects) linked with the wood construction value chains, whereas the literature from the residential perspectives and local-level governance mechanisms was found to be more limited. This supported the aim for Articles II to focus on residential perspectives on construction challenges and Article III on municipal decision-makers’ roles. Article II found the role of public authorities in relation to building delays, indicating that the level of formality of a particular institution does not necessarily mean well-functioning institutional practices, it may instead produce inefficiencies (as noted by Meyer & Rowan, 1977). Article III further studied the goals and practices related to enhancing sustainable construction, together with drivers and barriers for wood construction. Key factors in municipal considerations are energy efficiency and carbon neutrality goals, while the promotion of wood construction is less frequently considered. Many of the municipalities already had carbon neutrality goals set at the strategic level. Regulations and norms related to construction also influence municipal activities. While the respondents emphasised that collaboration and cooperation are essential when considering wood construction promotion, the results highlighted the important role of municipalities in influencing how construction develops, with linkages to local politics as well. Municipalities have several tools and practices (especially power in land zoning activities) to influence the development of the SHP. To conclude, despite several drivers of wood construction and the power to influence, municipalities are gradually adopting wood construction. They are positioned at the intersection of different actors and activities within housing provision; thus, they have a central role in driving sustainability transformation in the construction. Acta Wasaensia 49 5 DISCUSSION This chapter summarises the research findings in relation to the analytic framework (Chapter 2.4). This first includes discussion on sustainability pressure in the construction sector, together with an understanding of how changes in institutional practices are challenging the current socio-technical regime in the construction sector. Next, the discussion includes different stakeholders in the SHP and their roles as potential agents of change. This is followed by a discussion on triggers of change in the form of factors that enable or hinder the development of industrial wood construction. Finally, on the basis of the results, the discussion summarises the prerequisites for sustainability transition. Sustainability pressure in the construction sector is linked to aims of lowering the carbon emissions of buildings and construction processes (Giesekam et al., 2016; Geng et al., 2017). This dissertation mainly covers environmental aspects of sustainability (Chapter 2.3), and the use of wood in the construction to lower carbon footprint and create carbon storage in buildings (Hildebrandt et al., 2017; Gustavsson & Sathre, 2006). In Article III, different sustainable development practices in municipal construction were discussed and recognised, for example, energy efficiency of the buildings, carbon neutrality goals, consideration of rules and regulations, life cycle thinking and construction of long-lasting buildings, usage of renewable energy solutions, promotion of wood construction and land-use density in urban environment. The range of sustainable development practices highlights not only the complexity of the sustainability pressure itself but also the requirement for a variety of aspects that need to be taken into account when considering making changes in the system of housing provision. Institutional practices have emerged in various forms to enhance sustainability development (Chapter 2.2). These practices exist at different levels of the socio- technical system, as covered in the MLP framework, referred to as niches, regimes and landscape (Geels, 2002, 2004). In the socio-technical landscape, the Paris Climate Act and, for example, the EU Green Deal put pressure on nations to cut their carbon emissions. In the regime level, national goals for reducing carbon emissions and supportive regulation and programmes for enhancing the use of wood in the construction sector have been launched to support the landscape-level aims. The current system of housing provision at the regime level needs to adapt to these changes, which can mean new construction materials, building methods, housing types, changes in the business models and culture in which construction companies operate. 50 Acta Wasaensia Furthermore, changing consumer preferences and end user needs together with increased regulation and requirement for transparency in ecological aspects affect the regime-level change. At the niche level, several regions, municipalities and companies are adopting aims towards carbon neutrality along with other aspects of sustainability. These aims may vary with their emphasis on how to achieve carbon neutrality. In Article III, the role of municipalities in this respect was analysed. In the Finnish municipal sector, sustainability was seen as consisting of a set of aims and practices. The role of wood construction was seen as only one way of promoting sustainability in municipalities, together with energy efficiency, carbon neutrality and enhancement of life cycle of the buildings. Most of the municipalities saw more enabling factors than barriers towards the adoption of wood in the construction. Institutional practices were further analysed in Article II from the consumers’ point of view. In this case, the empirical material consisted of detached homebuilders. Several reasons for delays in the construction processes were found, including regulation and bureaucracy related to building permits, finances, life situation and finding a suitable plot. These reasons were found in both formal and informal institutions, highlighting the role of municipalities as critical actors in granting building permits and land zoning. In relation to WMC or public construction, it is noteworthy that previous studies have found tendering systems and procurement processes to form another important informal institution (Kadefors, 1995), that may function as value creation mechanism (e.g. Lindblad 2020; Torvinen & Ulkuniemi 2016). However tendering systems did not highlight in the results related to homebuilders’ experiences in Article II, which can be interpreted as a difference between the construction processes of these different housing types. Agents of change in the form of active stakeholders are needed to kick-start doing things differently for the transformation of construction sector towards sustainability. While new companies and innovations are born typically at the niche level of the socio-technical system (Geels et al., 2004), key actors in the dominant regime need to adopt new practices to mainstream wood construction. Next, the role of possible agents of change in wood construction is discussed. Construction projects and the industry consist of network actors with different roles, often described as loosely coupled systems (Dubois & Gadde, 2002). The focus in this dissertation was on consumers and municipalities along with the business actors in construction industry. While Article I covered all of these actors by examining studies in the WMC, the subsequent Articles took a closer look first Acta Wasaensia 51 at homebuyers in single-family housing (Article II) and then the role of municipalities (Article III). In reference to structures of housing production (SHP) (Burke & Hulse, 2010), actors in the exchange sphere are important intermediates in the housing markets (e.g. mortgages, insurances) (Österling, 2017); however, according to the results (in Article I), no research was available on their roles in the WMC market. Current literature on WMC market development has focused mostly on actors connected to the production sphere, while knowledge of actors in the consumption sphere is far more limited. Key actors covered in the literature include businesses, for example, contractors, element manufacturers and architects, together with members of the WMC business ecosystem, such as public authorities and residents. In addition, regarding business actors, most of the research information on companies connects directly to wood industries (e.g. manufacturers of modules). Because construction industry needs a high degree of specialisation at local and project levels, future development would require a highly diverse set of actors and related skills to be incorporated in the production sphere (Toppinen et al., 2019a). Small-scale actors often have limited resources to use new technologies and acquire new skills. Possibilities to start using new building systems and changing business logics may be supported through collaboration activities (Brege et al., 2014), which enhance the accumulation of special expertise and knowledge to build with wood as a part of business ecosystems (Viholainen et al., 2021a; Lähtinen et al., 2021b). Other important business actors include architects who design wood buildings (Roos et al., 2010). Several studies have concluded that architects’ perceptions of wood vary between different markets and are two-fold in relation to the qualities of wood material. The positive qualities of wood relate to lightness, cosiness and ecological traits, whereas negative concerns relate to fire safety, moisture, durability, higher costs, and complexity (Hemström et al., 2011; Mallo & Espinoza, 2015; Markström et al., 2018; Ilgin et al., 2021). While wood is commonly used and accepted by architects for small-scale construction (such as detached homes), especially in the Nordic countries, their perception is more reserved considering the use of wood in taller buildings (Ilgin et al., 2021) and in an urban context (Høibø et al., 2018). Triggers of change for industrial wood construction to evolve were analysed in several phases of the study by considering factors that enable and hinder the development of wood construction. First, enabling factors for WMC market diffusion, perceived sustainability benefits, especially among consumers and architects, together with benefits from pre-fabrication (e.g. material costs and 52 Acta Wasaensia efficiency in construction processes) were found to be crucial according to the literature review analysed in Article I. Wood is seen as ecological, durable and aesthetically appealing among consumers (e.g. Harju, 2022). These are important drivers for industrial wood construction even though the physical properties of houses are given less value by the consumers compared to intangible factors related to, for example, lifestyles and milieus (Lähtinen et al., 2021b). Previous literature has found that urban consumers are the most prejudiced against wood building; thus, the supply of homes meeting their value expectations is of critical importance for WMC market diffusion. (Lähtinen et al., 2021b). Similar findings regarding the barriers and enablers were found in Article III among municipal decision makers. While most of the municipal decision makers (65% of all municipalities) saw no major hindrances to wood construction, the most recognised ones were perceived higher costs related to wood construction, poor economic conditions of the municipal and prevailing construction traditions. The last is in line with previous literature on path dependencies and lock-in effects (e.g. Mahapatra & Gustavsson, 2008; Riala & Ilola, 2014). Increased regulation and bureaucracy as an institutional practice may cause major hindrances for construction and were identified to be causing delays for homebuilders in Article II. Similar findings on the role of institutional practices as hindering factors for the WMC (e.g. land zoning, public procurement) were made in Article I. Furthermore, intensive regulation has historically hindered WMC development through tight fire regulations, which originated from city fires in the 1800s and early 1900s (Waugh, 2015; Kuzman & Sandberg, 2017). The market diffusion of WMC has only recently gained momentum in Finland, as changes in building codes were made after the 1990s (Hildebrandt et al., 2017; Vihemäki et al., 2020). Furthermore, innovations related to engineered wood products (such as CLT) have enabled the development of construction technologies and increased pre-fabrication. Yet, the lack of experience from using wood in multi-storey construction and the path dependencies with concrete and steel construction continue to be the key barriers for mainstreaming the WMC market development in accordance with previous literature (Mahapatra & Gustavsson, 2008; Riala & Ilola, 2014; Hemstöm et al., 2017). This view was further supported by the municipal decision makers interviewed for Article III. Yet, the market diffusion of WMC may be supported by the perceived resource efficiency benefits (e.g. cost reductions, flexibility, rapid construction), which have also been benefits for industrial wood construction in the detached housing market (e.g. Steinhardt et al., 2020). Acta Wasaensia 53 Sustainability transition in the construction sector calls for changes in the SHP. The ambition of the dissertation is to contribute to the transformation of SHP and construction industry towards more sustainable future. As discussed, wood construction can be seen as a solution to enhance sustainability in the form of substituting more climate-burdensome materials while acting as a carbon sink in the building for decades. Previous literature on sustainability transition (e.g. Geels, 2002, 2004; Elzen et al., 2004) found that transitions took a long time in the current socio-technical regime. Industrial wood construction in Finland can be seen as being on the edge of wider adoption in the current system of housing provision, still dominated by large construction companies that are mainly producing concrete buildings. Interestingly, several factors affecting the adoption of wood construction can be seen as both barriers and enablers. For example, higher costs associated with wood construction are noted in the existing literature (e.g. Mahapatra et al., 2012; Mallo & Espinoza, 2015) (Article I). High construction costs were also recognised as barriers to the adoption of wood construction by the municipal decision makers in Article III and causing delays in construction (Article II). At the same time, cost effectiveness obtained through pre-fabrication was seen as an enabling factor for wood construction by municipal decision makers in Article III. This supports the existing literature on the benefits of pre-fabrication (e.g. Stehn et al., 2002; Persson et al., 2009; Roos et al., 2010; Gosselin et al., 2018; Steinhardt et al., 2020). Figure 6 summarises Chapter 5 and research findings related to the analytical framework. Research findings highlight the empirical results based on the three research Articles. As the findings mostly focus on describing enablers and barriers related to the adoption of wood construction in Finland, overcoming these prejudices may help mainstream the use of wood in the construction sector. 54 Acta Wasaensia Figure 6. Summary of the research findings in relation to analytical framework of the dissertation. Sustainability pressure Institutional practices Formal and informal Agents of change in construction Businesses Municipal ities Homebuyer s Triggers of change in industrial wood construction Enablers Barriers Sustainability transition and changes in SHP • Enabling factors: sustainability benefits, product innovations, efficiencies through pre- fabrication and aesthetics • Barriers to use of wood: higher cost concerns, prejudices on quality, increased regulation brings bureaucracy and may cause delays • Ecological aspects of sustainability (global warming) in focus • Increased use of wood in construction to lower carbon footprint and increased carbon storage in buildings. • Formal: Regulations; increased land zoning to support wood construction • Informal: Carbon neutrality goals support and path dependencies in construction sector hinder the use of wood. • Municipalities see more enabling factors than barriers to wood construction • Business actors need to build expertise and knowledge for wood construction • Homebuyers and architects appreciate ecological values of wood; perceptions vary • Increased interest towards wood construction, WMC still at niche-level • New wood construction value chains to mainstream the use of wood ANALYTICAL FRAMEWORK RESEARCH FINDINGS Acta Wasaensia 55 6 CONCLUSIONS The aim of this dissertation is to create a better understanding of factors enabling or hindering sustainability transition in construction sector and housing markets. This chapter discusses the main conclusions of the study related to theoretical contributions (Chapter 6.1) and managerial implications (Chapter 6.2), together with limitations and future research suggestions (Chapter 6.3). 6.1 Contributions of the thesis To deal with the broad and complex problem of sustainability transition in construction sector, an analytical framework was introduced to guide the research. While the purpose of the framework is not to work as a step-by-step tool trying to explain or solve a specific problem, it merely aims to help the researcher and the reader structure a complex process to a more easily understandable, even overly simplified entity. The analytical framework introduced in the paper helps to achieve the research aim and the three research questions by positioning the Articles and addressing their connections. The framework may help develop further research on the subject. Regarding scientific research on wood construction, this thesis first contributes by reviewing the literature on wooden multi-story construction enablers and barriers (especially in Article I) and suggesting future research streams from the findings. In reference to the SHP framework, the literature review highlighted a limited amount of research related to the exchange and consumption spheres, while acknowledging their importance when considering WMC market development. At the same time, the current research highlights pre-fabrication and sustainability in buildings as production sphere factors contributing to WMC market development. As concluded in the Article I, there seems to be momentum for the sustainability-driven forestry-wood construction value chains to challenge the dominant concrete-based regime through WMC. Research conducted in Article II further contributes to the understanding of institutional practices affecting building processes, while Article III contributes to the literature with a deeper understanding of the role of municipalities in enhancing sustainability development and their views on wood construction. As a theoretical contribution (especially Article II), the study identified connections between institutional structures (Kadefors, 1995) and empirical building project phases, indicating the applicability of institutional approach in studying detached house building within the SHP system. However, theoretical development is needed to more transparently describe the roles of actors within 56 Acta Wasaensia and between specific institutions. This illustrates how different actors, with their real-life practices, are positioned in the SHP system, also affecting the implementation and outcomes of building processes. In the Article II, a preliminary examination was made by positioning the results in the SHP framework. In a broader context and in future research, this approach might bring new avenues for analysing the obstacles and drivers of change in the housing markets. Based on the findings in Article II, most of the institutional practices causing delays were related to the production sphere of the SHP, highlighting the role of local-level governance actors. The results for public authorities indicate that formal institutions do not directly mean well-functioning institutional practices. Similar to the findings in Article I, the issues linked with the exchange sphere or consumption sphere of SHP were limited. The study contributes to the knowledge gap identified in the literature review on the role of local-level governance actors as enablers of positive WMC market development, especially through Article III. First, the article provides a comprehensive description of municipalities’ current activities related to sustainable construction and wood construction. Second, an analytic model is built in which municipalities are positioned as a nexus connecting different actors involved in the promotion of sustainable construction. The results highlight the key role of municipal decision makers in regulating public construction and their role as customers. This dual role grants municipalities the possibility of acting as gatekeepers (who scan and assess) or champions (who encourage innovation) in relation to industrial wood construction development. 6.2 Managerial implications For municipal decision makers, this study provides several insights. First, in their role as customers in public construction, municipalities act as forerunners in the adoption of wood in construction. This is supported by the government setting goals to increase the use of wood in public construction. As many municipalities have already set goals to achieve carbon neutrality in the near future, it seems natural to support the use of wood as a renewable and locally supplied material during the transition while paying attention to the energy efficiency of the buildings. Municipalities may enhance industrial wood construction development through pilot projects and, for example, through public–private partnership projects. Furthermore, as discussed in Article III, supporting wood construction investments also supports local and regional businesses in the construction and forest sectors in many municipalities, especially in rural areas. Information Acta Wasaensia 57 sharing through successful projects may help reduce the uncertainty and perceived risks faced by the construction industry. Second, as institutional actors, the role of municipalities as regulators grants them great power, especially in the form of land zoning and land-use planning. While many municipalities have already adopted the efficient practice of zoning plots specifically for wood construction projects, others have been more reluctant to use this tool. Risks of exclusive land zoning also exist, and these can include limited competition (lack of available suppliers), resulting in higher construction costs. Extensive regulation may also cause delays in the construction processes, as discussed in the case of detached home construction in the Article I. For businesses in the construction sector, it is fair to state that sustainability pressures affect all businesses and local governance actors. The current system of housing provision is undergoing transformation and provides both challenges; however, recognising the increasing sustainability expectations of residents and future customers may also bring new business opportunities. It is unclear what the future brings and which practices, construction methods and materials will be dominant. This research mainly considers the market potential of wood construction, which is currently seen as one solution to enhance sustainability through reduced greenhouse gas emissions in the construction sector. Construction companies are at the core of the transformation towards increased adoption of wood in the construction business ecosystem. Collaboration and information sharing among different stakeholders may enhance value co-creation and value capture opportunities for the whole business ecosystem (as also concluded by Toppinen et al., 2019b). Path dependencies and lock-in effects have been blamed as the main hindering factors, together with cost concerns for industrial wood construction. Overcoming these obstacles requires change in how businesses operate. Industrial wood construction, especially in large buildings, is still relatively new, and while several construction companies are learning new skills, opportunities exist for those forerunner actors. This might also bring business opportunities to new actors in the wood construction industry and free many of the lock-in effects and traditions. The lack of awareness among consumers about benefits of industrial wood construction (e.g. sustainability benefits, aesthetics, usability and durability) should be recognised in the marketing efforts of construction businesses. To make a change in the construction industry, WMC must also be viewed in the context of housing markets, not only through supply mechanisms mainly connected with technological benefits but also through cost-efficiency gains. 58 Acta Wasaensia 6.3 Limitations and future research suggestions There are several choices made during the research that may be viewed as limitations of the study. In Chapter 6.3.1, my aim is to openly discuss and address the choices and limitations that were made during the study. After reviewing the research limitations, Chapter 6.3.2 is dedicated to briefly discuss future research suggestions based on the research gaps and results obtained during the study. 6.3.1 Limitations First, related to the concept of institutional pressures in construction, the focus of the dissertation has been on sustainability challenges. While this helps to position the research and form the research aim and related questions, it may neglect some other important aspects affecting the development in the industry, such as globalisation, digitalisation or urbanisation. Furthermore, while sustainability consists of several aspects related to ecological, economic and social sustainability, the main focus has been on the ecological aspect. The research aims to study the adoption of wood in multi-story construction. Second, the scope of the construction sector in this study has been limited to focusing on analysing residential construction, while non-residential buildings have been mostly neglected. Article I reviews literature on WMC, focusing on residential buildings. Article II analyses single-family homes and Article III concentrates on municipalities’ views. While Article III touches on non-residential buildings as well, the markets for non-residential construction have not been fully addressed. Third, the construction field consists of many different actors, as addressed in Chapter 1. While construction companies have a central role in the adoption of wood in construction, the empirical analysis and data for this dissertation have been collected from homebuyers and municipalities in Articles II and III, respectively. However, the role of construction companies has been emphasised in several earlier studies, as noted in the literature review of Article I. This helped to make the choice and frame the study in a way that covers other important actors, creating better prospects to contribute to scientific research in the field. 6.3.2 Future research suggestions So far, the focus of research on WMC apartments has mostly been on their supply (i.e. production sphere) in the housing markets, while consumer expectations for Acta Wasaensia 59 WMC homes have gained considerably less attention. The same applies to the exchange sphere of the SHP (e.g. role of intermediaries). In particular, the attitude of investors and finance institutions towards wood construction and their role in sustainability transformation is interesting. Research on municipal decision- making and land zoning and intermediaries involved in the housing markets is still limited (with exceptions of e.g. Franzini et al., 2018; Vihemäki et al., 2020; Lindblad, 2020). While increased interest in wood construction and demand pressure is expected from changes in consumer needs and expectations, more research (or time) is needed to understand how these will occur. As concluded in the literature review, limited knowledge on consumer behaviour and on the experiences of living in wooden multi-storey buildings is currently available (with the exception of Viholainen et al., 2021b). Comparing data that covers other building materials in addition to wood buildings would help to understand the importance of sustainable development for consumer choices. Acknowledgment of the versatile needs of end users – for example, in terms of modularity of housing and flexibility in terms of changing uses over building life span – is still needed. More in-depth information is needed on WMC market development in the form of longitudinal research focusing, for example, on collaboration with actors in the construction value chains and emerging business ecosystems (e.g. actors related to exchange and consumption spheres in the system of housing provision). More information is also needed on how a more open innovation culture between different actors could be enhanced to broaden the collaboration networks for value co-creation and the accumulation of new skills. A need to better understand the factors enabling the formation of such forms of collaboration exists, which would better enable sharing the risks in WMC projects, since this topic was hardly touched upon in the study. 60 Acta Wasaensia References Ahuja, G., & Yayavaram, S. (2011). Perspective—Explaining influence rents: The case for an institutions-based view of strategy. Organization Science, 22(6), 1631– 1652. https://doi.org/10.1287/orsc.1100.0623 Akobeng, A. K. (2005). 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Housing markets and mortgage finance [Doctoral dissertation, Stockholm University, Department of Economics (p. 284)]. http://su.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:1115245/FULLTEXT01.pdf Acta Wasaensia 73 1 SILVA FENNICA Silva Fennica vol. 56 no. 1 article id 10609 Category: review article https://doi.org/10.14214/sf.10609 http://www.silvafennica.fi ISSN-L 0037-5330 | ISSN 2242-4075 (Online) The Finnish Society of Forest Science Jaakko Jussila1, Emil Nagy 2, Katja Lähtinen 3, Elias Hurmekoski1, Liina Häyrinen3, Cecilia Mark-Herbert 2, Anders Roos 2, Ritva Toivonen 1 and  Anne Toppinen1 Wooden multi-storey construction market development – systematic literature review within a global scope with insights on the Nordic region Jussila J., Nagy E., Lähtinen K., Hurmekoski E., Häyrinen L., Mark-Herbert C., Roos A., Toivonen R., Toppinen A. (2022). Wooden multi-storey construction market development – systematic literature review within a global scope with insights on the Nordic region. Silva Fen- nica vol. 56 no. 1 article id 10609. 24 p. https://doi.org/10.14214/sf.10609 Highlights • Enabling factors for WMC market diffusion include benefits from cost-efficiency gains from prefabrication and industrialization and perceived sustainability benefits. • Inexperience of using wood, and path dependencies to use concrete and steel in multi-storey building are the key barriers for mainstreaming WMC market development. • More research is needed on the development in the wood construction value-chains to chal- lenge the dominant concrete-based construction regime in the housing markets. Abstract Climate change sets high pressures on the construction industry to decrease greenhouse gas emis- sions. Due to the carbon storage properties and potential to use renewable resources efficiently, wooden multi-storey construction (WMC) is an interesting alternative for the construction industry to enhance sustainable development combined with the aesthetic and well-being benefits of wood perceived among many consumers. For forest industry firms, industrial wood construction is a possibility to seek for business opportunities and bring socio-economic benefits for local econo- mies. Despite positive drivers, WMC still remains a niche even in the forest-rich countries.The purpose of our study is to add understanding on the WMC market development by conducting a systematic literature analysis on international peer-reviewed studies from the past 20 years. Our special focus is on the role of WMC in the housing markets studied from the perspectives of the demand, supply and local governance factors. As specific aims, we 1) synthesize the key barriers and enabling factors for the WMC market growth; 2) identify the actors addressed in the existing studies connected to the WMC market development, and 3) summarize research methods and analytical approaches used in the previous studies. As a systematic method to make literature searches in Web of Science and Scopus for years 2000–2020, we employed PRISMA guidelines. By using pre-determined keywords, our searches resulted in a sample of 696 articles, of which 42 full articles were after selection procedure included in-depth content analysis. Our results showed cost-efficiency gains from industrialized prefabrication and perceived sustainability benefits by consumers and architects enabled a WMC market diffusion. The lack of experiences on the WMC, and path dependencies to use concrete and steel continue to be key barriers for increased WMC. Although our research scope was the global WMC market development, most of the literature concerned the Nordic region. The key actors covered in the literature were businesses (e.g., contractors, manufacturers and architects) involved in the wood construction value-chains, while residents and actors in the local governance were seldomly addressed. Currently, case stud- 74 Acta Wasaensia 2 Silva Fennica vol. 56 no. 1 article id 10609 · Jussila et al. · Wooden multi-storey construction market development… ies, the use of qualitative data sets and focus on the Nordic region dominate the literature. This hinders the generalizability of findings in different regional contexts. In the future, more research is needed on how sustainability-driven wood construction value-chains are successfully shaping up in different geographical regions, and how they could challenge the dominant concrete-based construction regime. Keywords construction industry; consumer; forest-wood value-chain; municipality; sustainability; urbanization Addresses 1University of Helsinki, Department of Forest Sciences, P.O. Box 4, FI-00014 Uni- versity of Helsinki, Finland; 2Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Department of Forest Economics, P.O. Box 7060, SE-750 07 Uppsala, Sweden; 3Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke), Bioeconomy and environment, P.O. Box 2, FI-00791 Helsinki, Finland E-mail jaakko@jussila.fi Received 9 July 2021 Revised 4 January 2022 Accepted 11 January 2022 1 Introduction Climate change, as the most pressing global problem facing humanity, calls for a sustainable change towards adoption of low-carbon solutions in the emission intensive construction industry, for example, in relation to UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) (Ogunmakinde et al. 2022). Since wood is a renewable material with relatively low embodied fossil carbon, timber structures have beneficial climate impacts compared to other construction materials (Geng et al. 2017; Hafner and Schäfer 2017; Hildebrand et al. 2017; Peñaloza et al. 2016). Building with wood has strong traditions all over the world, and prefabrication of modules is broadly used in the detached housing sector (DeAraujo 2021; Jussila and Lähtinen 2020). Contrastingly, wooden multi-storey construc- tion (WMC) is still in the niche also in the forest-rich regions, although it has strong potential to enhance sustainability in urban housing and development of circular bioeconomy in cities (Top- pinen et al. 2019a; Lähtinen et al. 2021). Prefabrication and industrialization of the building processes has been emphasized in the construction industry especially in the 2000s (Jonsson and Rudberg 2014). At the same time, engi- neered wood products have entered in the markets to substitute concrete and steel, for example, in the load-bearing structures of multi-storey buildings (Schuler et al. 2001; Tettey et al. 2019). The rise of engineered wood products combined with updated building codes on fire protection have enabled the recent increase in wood use in Europe and building taller wooden buildings than before (Hildebrandt et al. 2017). This growing interest towards WMC may also be attributed to low costs, rapid construction phase, and perceived aesthetic and natural qualities of wood (Gold and Rubik 2009; Gosselin et al. 2017; Viholainen et al. 2021b). Adoption of WMC technologies has gradually advanced through technical innovations (Lindgren 2017; Lazarevic et al. 2020). As previous research and experience from various coun- tries indicate, the established modes of operating in multi-storey construction favor concrete as the framing material due to path-dependencies (e.g., established standards, regulation, construction culture) (Kadefors 1995; Hemström et al. 2017; Mark-Herbert et al. 2019). These path depend- encies derived from the concrete-based industries have caused lock-ins, such as reliance on the existing traditions in the implementation of business models and management of risks that have slowed down the uptake of industrial wood building technologies (Nordin et al. 2010; Riala and Ilola 2014; Vihemäki et al. 2019). Yet, as construction is usually a domestic field of business and significantly affected by local governance, considerable variations may occur in the pace of WMC market development within individual countries (Hemström et al. 2017; Lähtinen et al. 2019a; Vihemäki et al. 2019). Acta Wasaensia 75 3 Silva Fennica vol. 56 no. 1 article id 10609 · Jussila et al. · Wooden multi-storey construction market development… The expectations for the market diffusion of the WMC in the context of housing markets relates to the global urbanization development (Dangel 2017). At the same time, societal pres- sures increase the need to develop and scale up building solutions that can better respond to social, economic and environmental sustainability goals, including the global climate change challenge (Lindblad and Schaurte 2017; Mark-Herbert et al. 2019; Vihemäki et al. 2019). For example, through linkages with the UN Sustainable Development goals (in particular SDG11 (Sustainable cities and communities), SDG12 (Responsible consumption) and SDG13 (Climate action) (https:// sdgs.un.org/goals), construction industry and housing markets are linked with global policies and actions (Wolf et al. 2017). Over time, customers, industries and other actors can co-create both user value and thereby promote the development of climate neutral municipalities (Edmondson 2018), provided that changes in legislation, political programs and education will effectively enhance the use of wood in multi-story construction (Toppinen et al. 2019a). For example, through collaboration, business actors (e.g., construction industries) and customers (e.g., future residents) can enhance knowl- edge accumulation and development of building processes for value increase and desirability of WMC (Lähtinen et al. 2022). Similarly, actors responsible for local governance mechanisms in municipalities can support uptake of building solutions with environmental benefits (Lähtinen et al. 2019a). Overall, regarding the future market development, the prospects for WMC appear positive, based on the technological development of engineered wood products, modular building solutions, and increasing interest among professionals (architects, engineers and planners) all around the world (Dangel 2017). In addition, for example in the Nordic region, owner-occupancy plays an important role in the housing markets either in the form of owning a detached house or, owning a share of a housing company or being a member of a housing co-operative (Andersson et al. 2007). Due to this, residents’ perceptions and value orientations on the role of sustainability, including the expected climate benefits, is critical for the market share development of WMC (Lähtinen et al. 2021). Abreast with the need to increase value in housing through communication with future residents, for example, on the load-bearing material choices in multi-storey construction (Lähtinen et al. 2022), consumers may also contribute to the fulfillment of sustainable construction initiatives during the life-cycles of the buildings (Ogumankinde et al. 2022). In addition, from the perspective of fulfillment of sustainable urbanization aims, e.g., SDG11, knowledge on demand factors in the housing markets is important (Wolff et al. 2017). In parallel, the potential of the WMC industry to produce solutions meeting these user expectations and criteria is fundamental for unlocking the growth potential of this niche field of construction (Toppinen et al. 2018). A number of studies have been introduced in recent years addressing factors influencing the emergence of WMC (Gosselin et al. 2017; Hemström et al. 2017; Hurmekoski et al. 2018). Yet, the state of the art in the literature as a whole remains largely unmapped. The few existing systematic reviews have focused on the literature regarding sustainability in the residential construction in general (Lima et al. 2021). In those studies, it has been found out that social and economic aspects are less frequently addressed in comparison to environmental sustainability, and that wood material appears as a small but central node in the research from building materials perspective. However, evidence exist that, for example, in interior use wood connects with perceived psychologic human well-being effects (Rice et al. 2006; Nyrud and Bringlinsmark 2010). Other reviews like de Car- valho et al. (2017) have mapped integration of lean technology over a building’s life-cycle without including aspects arising from the usage of renewable building materials, nor the ones connected to social science perspectives. Considering the positive growth prospects in WMC market, there is a need to better under- stand how businesses involved in WMC are developing their strategies towards sustainability and 76 Acta Wasaensia 4 Silva Fennica vol. 56 no. 1 article id 10609 · Jussila et al. · Wooden multi-storey construction market development… municipal carbon neutrality goals. In addition, information is needed how these connect to end- user needs, and how the actors can better engage in these processes with other actors, in particular with local municipalities. Better knowledge on these matters and about the roles of key actors, will enable WMC businesses to craft localized and collaborative strategies that would result in better value creation. The interplay of producers, consumers, and regulators is also a key theme for this study, as the markets with unclear growth prospects often face a chicken-egg problem of producers having to invest in new production capacity without prospective customers, and consumers not being able to buy apartments when there is no supply. Related to that, little is known about how key actors in local wood construction – customers, local policymakers and builders – jointly contribute to sustainable construction and increased user value. Elements hereof involve sustain- ability and climate considerations (i.e., carbon stock and substitution effects) in the consumers’ decision making. This paper thus aims to delimit the knowledge-gap by synthesizing the current scientific literature on the factors related to WMC demand, supply and local-level governance that affect the circumstances in the housing markets. As a result of our analysis, we summarize and conceptualize the challenges of WMC market development and identify aspects, which requires to be addressed in future studies to establish new research agenda, as called by Zhang et al. (2019). The first aim of our study is to synthesize the key barriers and enabling factors for the WMC market growth addressed in international peer-reviewed studies in 2000–2020. As the second aim, we identify the actors, who have been addressed in this literature to have a key role to affect the WMC market development. Third, we synthesize the types of research methods and analytical approaches used to study the themes related to the WMC market development and actor roles. Finally, based on the results, we present implications for future research needs. The past 20 years have been characterized both by the increasing emphasis in the construction industry for indus- trialization (Jonsson and Rudberg 2014) and development of wood-based solutions to substitute concrete and other fossil-based building materials also in multi-storey buildings (Schuler et al. 2001). Thus, by evaluating the state of the art in the WMC literature published in that period, we contribute to the understanding of dynamics of systemic change in the construction industry towards more sustainable practices in the housing markets. By doing this, we will gain not only an improved scientific understanding on the state of the art, and the related gaps in the knowledge, but the study will also will contribute with new insights how WMC industry could be revitalized or become more sustainable and competitive. The study is mainly focusing on market behavior, interaction and strategies by WMC actors. It does not explore in depth roles of international and national policies. This is a separate issue that merits a study on its own. 2 Analytical framework of the study to assess the potential for WMC market development In the construction industry business environment and housing markets, socio-economic changes (e.g., increase of income and wealth) have diversified consumer demand (Gibler and Tyvimaa 2014). As a result of this, but also due to the need to enhance the efficiency and sustainability of the construction industry, expectations towards the businesses and other actors acting as suppliers of homes to make changes in their dominating practices have increased (ONeill and Gibbs 2014; Jussila and Lähtinen 2020). Changing sustainability practices do not only relate to businesses, but also concern needs and views of other stakeholders (e.g., authorities, consumers), who are involved in building processes or use of buildings (Ogunmakinde et al. 2022). Acta Wasaensia 77 5 Silva Fennica vol. 56 no. 1 article id 10609 · Jussila et al. · Wooden multi-storey construction market development… These needs for business changes do not concern specifically WMC, but all types of build- ing processes in the global construction industry markets (Holt 2013; Jonsson and Rudberg 2014). For example, abreast with the need for more sustainable and resource-efficient use of materials, business development through evolvement of business ecosystems has been emphasized to bring new opportunities for the construction industry (Pulkka et al. 2016). As a result, it has been shown that positive impacts on value creation can be achieved through deepening collaboration, which extends beyond traditional transaction-based project-level subcontracting (Toppinen et al. 2019b). In the business ecosystems, actors involved in production, exchange and consumption spheres connect with each other, for example, through communication that enhances possibilities for value co-creation (Pulkka et al. 2016, Toppinen et al. 2019b). For WMC, communication between companies, local governance actors (e.g., urban plan- ners) and future residents within business ecosystems may enhance accumulation of know-how, which supports future business development possibilities (Toppinen et al. 2019b; Lähtinen 2022). In addition, communication with actors enables the sector to overcome prejudices against building with wood connecting, for example, deficiencies in the knowledge on fire safety and technological durability of wooden materials in multi-storey houses (e.g., load-bearing structures) (Lähtinen et al. 2021). Production, consumption and exchange patterns in the housing markets may be illustrated with Structures of Housing Provision (SHP) framework (Ball and Harloe 1992; Ball 1998; Burke and Hulse 2010) (Fig. 1). According to SHP, supply and demand in the housing markets are depend- ent on geographic circumstances at specific points of time reflecting in spheres of consumption, production and exchange. In the context of Nordic countries, for example, traditions in building with wood and home ownership structures affect how especially WMC housing markets evolve (Lähtinen et al. 2021). In relation to sustainable urbanization and fulfillment of the UN Sustainable Development Goals, knowledge on housing markets as a system is needed instead of focusing merely on technological aspects of products and processes (Wolff et al. 2017). Fig. 1. Actors connected to structures of housing provision (SHP) with potential to affect WMC market development. 78 Acta Wasaensia 6 Silva Fennica vol. 56 no. 1 article id 10609 · Jussila et al. · Wooden multi-storey construction market development… The consumer sphere describes housing values, which are reflected in consumer preferences and processes to rent, purchase and choose homes. In the context of WMC, those preferences and processes are connected with path dependencies, for example, in the ownership structures in the housing stock in specific regions and perceptions of consumers, for example, on WMC (Lähtinen et al. 2022). In comparison, supply structures in production sphere comprise business choices and capabilities of businesses involved in the construction value-chains (e.g., suppliers of building solutions) (Stehn et al. 2002), and decisions of public authorities to zone land for building and give associated regulations (Lähtinen et al. 2019a). Abreast with companies involved in WMC value-chains and consumers renting or purchasing homes, local, municipal authorities have an impact on the development of WMC markets, and the achievement of sustainable urbanization goals. For instance, land zoning decisions and practices to grant building permits within municipalities (Lähtinen et al. 2019b; Jussila and Lähtinen 2020) affect the possibilities of companies to develop neighborhoods that can be perceived as attractive ones among residents. In line with this, local cultures to work with specific building material traditions can play a decisive role in WMC market development (Høibø et al. 2015, 2018). In the Nordic countries, especially in Finland and Sweden, municipalities have strong power in the land use governance (Mäntysalo et al. 2011), and thus their governance mechanisms are key for the prospects of wood construction. Finally, abreast with businesses and public actors (e.g., municipalities) operating in pro- duction sphere and consumers in consumption sphere, financial institutions governing monetary instruments belong to the system of housing markets. In the context of the SHP framework, they operate in exchange sphere, that enable renting, selling and use of homes in the markets through governance of monetary instruments (Ball 2003; Burke and Hulse 2010). In practice, as funders of actors in production and consumption spheres, actors in exchange sphere enable both implementa- tion of operations in the housing markets (e.g., building and purchasing homes), but also managing of different types of risks through assignment of insurances. According to SHP, housing markets are a system of actors, who in multiple ways are con- nected to each other (Burke 2012). By evaluating WMC market development through SHP spheres, it is possible to gain a comprehensive understanding of how different actors (e.g., home purchas- ers and renters, building developers and builders, public authorities and urban planners) affect the potential for sustainable urbanization in reference to housing market mechanisms. Furthermore, employment of SHP also enables identifying how other actors (e.g., interest organizations, non- governmental organizations, research institutions and universities, politicians, or legislators) also belonging to the WMC business ecosystems (Lähtinen et al. 2022) have been addressed in previous studies on WMC. The analytical framework of our study to identify the enabling factors and bar- riers for WMC market development in relation to production, consumption and exchange spheres, and the actors involved are presented in Fig. 1. 3 Materials and methods The data of the study are based on international peer-reviewed studies (herewith referred as peer- reviewed articles) published in 2000–2020. Searches were carried out in two databases (Scopus and Web of Science) by using predetermined search words for titles, abstracts, and keywords. The predetermined keywords were defined based on existing information received from literature employed, for example, in the empirical background of this study. Prior to implementation of the literature searches, the applicability and formulation of the keywords (e.g., use of hyphens, com- pound words) were tested by the research group members in three consecutive workshops. This Acta Wasaensia 79 7 Silva Fennica vol. 56 no. 1 article id 10609 · Jussila et al. · Wooden multi-storey construction market development… was done to enhance the validity (i.e., no exclusion of relevant literature, exclusion of literature entirely from different fields of research) of the material to be found. As a method of analysis, a systematic literature approach was employed, since it is a trans- parent, rigorous, and detailed methodology used to support decision making (Tranfield et al. 2003). The method may also be used to build theory by accumulating knowledge and evidence after ana- lyzing large number of studies and methods, thereby increasing the consistency of the results and the conclusions (Akobeng, 2005; Denicol et al. 2020). This study follows the PRISMA guidelines by Moher et al. (2009), and our systematic literature review was performed in four stages (Fig. 2). Details of the initial search phrases, methods and exclusion criteria are shown in Supplementary file S1, available at https://doi.org/10.14214/sf.10609. The first phase of the literature review process comprised general identification of the lit- erature. As an outcome of the database searches executed at the identification phase, 7117 docu- ment results were received in Scopus and 5491 in Web of Science, respectively. After exclusion of irrelevant journals and titles, a total number of 825 peer-reviewed articles remained for further screening (440 in Scopus and 385 in Web of Science). At this phase also duplicates were removed from the search results, which resulted in a total number of 696 peer-reviewed articles. The second phase of the literature review was composed of screening of the 696 articles conducted by the research team as a case-by-case evaluation. In this phase, a total of 528 articles were excluded based on full abstract reading using preliminary addressed exclusion criteria. The list of excluded studies consisted of peer-reviewed articles, which were not addressing wood con- struction or had strictly technical focus (i.e., no information to add knowledge on WMC market development). After the screening phase, altogether 168 studies were left for further consideration at the eligibility phase. The third phase, i.e., eligibility assessment, included full-text reading of the 168 peer- reviewed articles. In the beginning of the eligibility assessment phase, each article was read inde- pendently by two researchers. After this, the research group members discussed the evaluation results together to strengthen the validity of the results. As an outcome of the eligibility assess- ment phase, a total number of 126 peer-reviewed articles were excluded from further reading. Fig. 2. Literature review process applied in the study (see PRISMA-method, e.g., Moher et al. 2019). 80 Acta Wasaensia 8 Silva Fennica vol. 56 no. 1 article id 10609 · Jussila et al. · Wooden multi-storey construction market development… The excluded studies were not addressing multi-storey buildings, were not focusing on the market development perspectives, or were focusing on other types of houses than residential buildings. In addition, some peer-reviewed articles were excluded due to their unavailability in an electronic format. Furthermore, a few articles were found to be published in non-peer-reviewed journals and therefore excluded. After the eligibility assessment, a total number of 42 peer-reviewed articles were included in the initial material of this study. As the final phase of the literature review, all 42 peer-reviewed articles were analyzed in depth. The first focus of this stage of the analysis was to categorize the contents of the materials into the themes of enabling factors and barriers, which affect the potential for WMC market devel- opment. As an analytical framework to link the results with the housing markets, SHP framework was employed. The categorization process also included identification of the key actors, who had been addressed in the peer-reviewed articles as parties with some kinds of roles in the WMC market development. At this phase, also the research methods and analytical approaches used in the 42 studies were evaluated to add knowledge on by what approaches the WMC market demand development had been addressed in the previous studies. By doing this, it was possible to add, for example, understanding on what types of methodological and analytical development would be needed in the academic research to provide new information on the WMC in the context of housing markets in the future. 4 Results The general outcome of the analysis shows that the number of published peer-reviewed articles on WMC has increased especially after 2017 (Fig. 3). This is an indication of an increasing interest among scholars on the WMC especially in the recent past. Yet, although literature searches com- prised studies published since the early 2000s, all 42 studies passing the final eligibility assessment in the review process were released after 2006 (Fig. 3). This shows that despite the WMC has been Fig. 3. Studies included in the literature review by publication year (total of 42 articles). Acta Wasaensia 81 9 Silva Fennica vol. 56 no. 1 article id 10609 · Jussila et al. · Wooden multi-storey construction market development… studied from different perspectives rather actively in the recent years, aspects connected to WMC market development in relation to views on demand, supply and local governance have gained much less attention among academics. This can also be perceived, for example, by comparing the number of publications found at the identification phase of the literature searches with the number of studies fulfilling the initial search criteria (Fig. 2). The distribution of studies composing the final data of the study were published in 27 dif- ferent journals, of which the most common ones were Wood Material Science and Engineering (5 studies, especially a special issue in 2019), Journal of Cleaner Production (4 studies) and Con- struction Management and Economics (4 studies). Regarding the geographical focus of the studies, the results of this study indicate that WMC market development research has been dominated by studies connected to the Nordic region. The empirical data in the final set of articles concerned Nordic countries (Finland, Sweden or Norway) in 37 out of 42 articles, while 8 articles covered also other geographical areas (e.g., US, UK and Central Europe). In reference to SHP framework, our analysis showed that information in the literature addressed solely views linked with production and consumption spheres (Table 1). Contrastingly, no information related to exchange sphere existed in the 42 peer-reviewed articles employed as the material of this study, although, for example, financing significantly contributes to functionality of the housing market (Österling 2017; Jussila and Lähtinen 2020). Naturally, there are a myriad of policy drivers that are underlying the SHP framework although these could not be under our direct scrutiny, and some of the reviewed studies also addressed these (such as Tykkä et al. 2010, Hurmekoski et al. 2018, or Vihemäki et al. 2019). As result of the categorization process to identify the themes affecting as enablers and/or bar- riers for the WMC market diffusion, eight general themes emerged in our literature review analysis. The eight themes were named as Sustainability in building, System development, Innovations, Business collaboration, Stakeholder awareness, Institutional changes, Urban planning, and Market demand. In all, Table 1 shows that the reviewed literature provided more nuanced understanding on production sphere enablers and barriers, while the availability of information on consumption sphere was considerably scarcer. According to the detailed results on the enabling factors for WMC market development illustrated in Table 2, information on the possibilities was found for all other themes than Market demand. In general, aspects related to themes on the Sustainability in building, System develop- ment, Innovations, Stakeholder awareness, and Institutional changes was found to a higher extent than aspects on themes on Business collaboration and Urban planning. Business collaboration and Urban planning both relate to business ecosystems (Pulkka et al 2016), while the lack of informa- tion on the Market demand significantly shows the deficiencies linking the WMC with the broader housing market context (Burke and Hulse 2010). Business ecosystems may significantly contribute to the construction industry development. Despite this, in the reviewed literature there were just few peer-reviewed articles addressing WMC market development through views on business collaboration. Related to this, also profound infor- mation on how different actors might contribute to WMC market development was largely lacking. In all, most of the studies addressed mainly element manufacturers, engineers, and construction companies as key actors in the WMC system. Yet, for instance, municipalities (e.g., urban planners and other civil servants) may contribute to WMC market development through their land zoning activities and accumulation of local know-how through their collaboration with local industries. Similarly, also future residents could add possibilities for the value co-creation in production sphere through their communication activities in the business ecosystems. Table 3 shows the barriers, which in relation to production sphere were found to hinder WMC market development. As a difference to enabling factors, Sustainability in building was 82 Acta Wasaensia 10 Silva Fennica vol. 56 no. 1 article id 10609 · Jussila et al. · Wooden multi-storey construction market development… Ta bl e 1. C at eg or iz at io n of th e lit er at ur e fo r t he m es o f e na bl er s ( E) a nd b ar rie rs (B ) f or th e W M C m ar ke t d ev el op m en t i n co nn ec tio n pr od uc tio n an d co ns um pt io n sp he re s w ith in st ru ct ur es of h ou sin g pr ov isi on . Pr od uc tio n sp he re Co ns um pt io n sp he re A ut ho rs Ye ar Su sta in - ab ili ty in bu ild in g Sy ste m de ve lo p- m en t In no va - tio ns Bu sin es s co lla bo ra - tio n St ak e- ho ld er aw ar en es s In sti tu - tio na l ch an ge s U rb an pl an ni ng M ar ke t de m an d Su sta in a- bi lit y in bu ild in g Sy ste m de ve lo p- m en t In no va - tio ns Bu sin es s co lla bo ra - tio n St ak e- ho ld er aw ar en es s In sti tu - tio na l ch an ge s U rb an pl an ni ng M ar ke t de m an d St eh n an d Be rg str öm 20 02 E/ B Bj ör nf ot a nd S te hn 20 07 E Sa nd be rg e t a l. 20 08 E B M ah ap at ra a nd G us ta vs so n 20 08 E/ B E E E Pe rs so n et a l. 20 09 E B By sh ei m a nd N yr ud 20 09 B E Ty kk ä et a l. 20 10 E B E E N or di n et a l. 20 10 B E Ro os e t a l. 20 10 E E/ B B H em str öm , e t a l. 20 11 E B B B Er ik ss on e t a l. 20 12 E M ah ap at ra e t a l. 20 12 E/ B E/ B E E/ B Br eg e et a l. 20 14 E E B B Ri al a an d Ilo la 20 14 E/ B E B M al lo a nd E sp in oz a 20 15 E B B B H ur m ek os ki e t a l. 20 15 E/ B E/ B E/ B H øi bø e t a l. 20 15 E B B Jo ne s e t a l. 20 16 B E E H yn yn en 20 16 E B E B E B Li nd gr en a nd E m m itt 20 17 E E B E H em str öm e t a l. 20 17 B E H øi bø e t a l. 20 18 B St er n et a l. 20 18 E B G os se lin e t a l. 20 18 E/ B E E E B H ur m ek os ki e t a l. 20 18 B E Fr an zi ni e t a l. 20 18 E/ B B B B E To pp in en e t a l. 20 18 E B M ar ks trö m e t a l. 20 18 E E E/ B To pp in en e t a l. 20 19 E/ B Acta Wasaensia 83 11 Silva Fennica vol. 56 no. 1 article id 10609 · Jussila et al. · Wooden multi-storey construction market development… Ta bl e 1. C at eg or iz at io n of th e lit er at ur e fo r t he m es o f e na bl er s ( E) a nd b ar rie rs (B ) f or th e W M C m ar ke t d ev el op m en t i n co nn ec tio n pr od uc tio n an d co ns um pt io n sp he re s w ith in st ru ct ur es of h ou sin g pr ov isi on . Pr od uc tio n sp he re Co ns um pt io n sp he re A ut ho rs Ye ar Su sta in - ab ili ty in bu ild in g Sy ste m de ve lo p- m en t In no va - tio ns Bu sin es s co lla bo ra - tio n St ak e- ho ld er aw ar en es s In sti tu - tio na l ch an ge s U rb an pl an ni ng M ar ke t de m an d Su sta in a- bi lit y in bu ild in g Sy ste m de ve lo p- m en t In no va - tio ns Bu sin es s co lla bo ra - tio n St ak e- ho ld er aw ar en es s In sti tu - tio na l ch an ge s U rb an pl an ni ng M ar ke t de m an d St eh n an d Be rg str öm 20 02 E/ B Bj ör nf ot a nd S te hn 20 07 E Sa nd be rg e t a l. 20 08 E B M ah ap at ra a nd G us ta vs so n 20 08 E/ B E E E Pe rs so n et a l. 20 09 E B By sh ei m a nd N yr ud 20 09 B E Ty kk ä et a l. 20 10 E B E E N or di n et a l. 20 10 B E Ro os e t a l. 20 10 E E/ B B H em str öm , e t a l. 20 11 E B B B Er ik ss on e t a l. 20 12 E M ah ap at ra e t a l. 20 12 E/ B E/ B E E/ B Br eg e et a l. 20 14 E E B B Ri al a an d Ilo la 20 14 E/ B E B M al lo a nd E sp in oz a 20 15 E B B B H ur m ek os ki e t a l. 20 15 E/ B E/ B E/ B H øi bø e t a l. 20 15 E B B Jo ne s e t a l. 20 16 B E E H yn yn en 20 16 E B E B E B Li nd gr en a nd E m m itt 20 17 E E B E H em str öm e t a l. 20 17 B E H øi bø e t a l. 20 18 B St er n et a l. 20 18 E B G os se lin e t a l. 20 18 E/ B E E E B H ur m ek os ki e t a l. 20 18 B E Fr an zi ni e t a l. 20 18 E/ B B B B E To pp in en e t a l. 20 18 E B M ar ks trö m e t a l. 20 18 E E E/ B To pp in en e t a l. 20 19 E/ B Ta bl e 1 co nt in ue d. Pr od uc tio n sp he re Co ns um pt io n sp he re A ut ho rs Ye ar Su sta in - ab ili ty in bu ild in g Sy ste m de ve lo p- m en t In no va - tio ns Bu sin es s co lla bo ra - tio n St ak e- ho ld er aw ar en es s In sti tu - tio na l ch an ge s U rb an pl an ni ng M ar ke t de m an d Su sta in a- bi lit y in bu ild in g Sy ste m de ve lo p- m en t In no va - tio ns Bu sin es s co lla bo ra - tio n St ak e- ho ld er aw ar en es s In sti tu - tio na l ch an ge s U rb an pl an ni ng M ar ke t de m an d Lä ht in en e t a l. 20 19 E B Vi he m äk i e t a l. 20 19 E/ B Li nd bl ad 20 19 B To pp in en e t a l. 20 19 E/ B E M ar ks trö m e t a l. 20 19 E E B E/ B E Ri gg io e t a l. 20 20 B E E/ B B Pe lli a nd L äh tin en 20 20 E B Pe te rs e t a l. 20 20 E E E E K yl ki la ht i e t a l. 20 20 E E Vi ho la in en e t a l. 20 20 E/ B Li nd bl ad 20 20 E/ B Vi he m äk i e t a l. 20 20 B E B La za re vi c et a l. 20 20 B E/ B 84 Acta Wasaensia 12 Silva Fennica vol. 56 no. 1 article id 10609 · Jussila et al. · Wooden multi-storey construction market development… Ta bl e 2. C at eg or iz at io n of th e th em es o f e na bl in g fa ct or s f or th e W M C m ar ke t d ev el op m en t i n co nn ec tio n to p ro du ct io n sp he re w ith in st ru ct ur es o f h ou sin g pr ov isi on . Th em es o f p ro du ct io n sp he re e na bl er s K ey ro le a ct or s Li te ra tu re Su sta in ab ili ty in b ui ld in g Lo w e nv iro nm en ta l i m pa ct ; A es th et ic a pp ea l; Ca rb on st or ag e; S tru c- tu ra l d ur ab ili ty A rc hi te ct s; El em en t m an uf ac tu re rs H yn yn en 2 01 6; H em str om e t a l 2 01 1; M al lo a nd E sp in oz a 20 15 ; R oo s e t a l. 20 10 ; M ar ks tro m e t a l. 20 18 ; M ar ks trö m e t a l. 20 19 ; T yk kä e t a l. 20 10 ; L in dg re n an d Em m itt 2 01 7 Sy ste m d ev el op m en t St an da rd iz at io n; In du str ia liz ed p ro du ct io n, P ro du ct iv ity ; T ec hn ol og ic al de ve lo pm en t ( e. g. , I T to ol s) ; L ow c os ts; F le xi bi lit y; R ap id c on str uc tio n Co ns tru ct io n co m pa ni es ; El em en t m an uf ac tu re rs Sa nd be rg e t a l.2 00 8; B jö rn fo t a nd S te hn 2 00 7; B re ge e t a l. 20 14 ; P el li an d Lä ht in en 20 20 ; P et er s e t a l. 20 20 ; S te hn a nd B er gs trö m 2 00 2; G os se lin e t a l. 2 01 8; H ur m e- ko sk i e t a l. 20 15 ; M ah ap at ra a m d G us ta vs so n 20 08 ; R ia la a nd Il ol a 20 14 ; M ah ap at ra et a l. 20 12 ; R oo s e t a l. 20 10 ; M ar ks tro m e t a l. 20 18 ; M ar ks trö m e t a l. 20 19 ; T yk kä e t al . 2 01 0; P er ss on e t a l. 20 09 ; F ra nz in i e t a l. 20 18 In no va tio ns N ew c on str uc tio n te ch no lo gi es ; P re fa br ic at io n; P ro du ct in no va tio ns (e .g . C LT ); Sy ste m in no va tio n (e .g . c ol la bo ra tio n an d in te gr at io n of n ew so lu tio ns ); Re se ar ch c ol la bo ra tio n Co ns tru ct io n co m pa ni es ; En gi ne er s H yn yn en 2 01 6; R ig gi o et a l. 20 20 ; P et er s e t a l. 20 20 ; J on es e t a l. 20 18 ; G os se lin et a l.2 01 8; N or di n et a l. 20 10 ; R ia la a nd Il ol a 20 14 ; T yk kä e t a l. 20 10 ; B re ge e t a l. 20 14 Bu sin es s c ol la bo ra tio n Co lla bo ra tio n an d co -o pe ra tio n be tw ee n sta ke ho ld er s; Co m m un ic at io n an d re la tio ns hi ps in n et w or k Pr od uc t m an uf ac tu re rs ; En gi ne er s; A rc hi te ct s Ri gg io e t a l. 20 20 ; G os se lin e t a l. 20 18 ; T op pi ne n et a l. 20 19 a; T op pi ne n et a l. 20 19 b St ak eh ol de r a w ar en es s H ig h le ve l o f a w ar en es s o f w oo d bu ild in g sy ste m s a nd c on str uc - tio n m at er ia ls; P os iti ve k no w le dg e an d ex pe rie nc es o n us e of w oo d; Pr om ot io na l a ct iv iti es ; R ol e of in te rm ed ia rie s; Re so na nc e; E du ca tio n an d vo ca tio na l t ra in in g; S us ta in ab ili ty a sp ec ts (e .g ., fo r m ar ke tin g an d br an di ng ) Co ns tru ct io n co m pa ni es ; O th er st ak eh ol de rs Pe te rs e t a l. 20 20 ; S te rn e t a l. 20 18 ; J on es e t a l. 20 18 ; G os se lin e t a l. 20 18 ; H ur m e- ko sk i e t a l. 20 15 ; V ih em äk i e t a l. 20 20 ; B ys he im a nd N yr ud 2 00 9; M ah ap at ra e t a l. 20 12 ; H em str öm e t a l. 20 17 ; M ar ks trö m e t a l. 20 19 ; T op pi ne n et a l. 20 19 b In sti tu tio na l c ha ng es Po lic y m ea su re s a nd in sti tu tio na l f ra m ew or ks ; L aw a nd re gu la tio n ch an ge s ( e. g. , F ire re gu la tio ns , b ui ld in g re gu la tio ns ); Ch an ge s i n bu ild - in g co de s; G ov er nm en ta l s up po rt pr og ra m s Po lic ym ak er s; Pr od uc t m an uf ac tu re rs H yn yn en 2 01 6; P et er s e t a l. 20 20 ; H ur m ek os ki e t a l. 20 15 ; H ur m ek os ki e t a l. 20 18 ; Vi he m äk i e t a l. 20 19 ; T op pi ne n et a l. 20 18 ; M ah ap at ra e t a l. 20 12 ; T yk kä e t a l. 20 10 ; La za re vi c et a l. 20 20 U rb an p la nn in g Im pr ov ed tr an sp ar en cy in th e la nd a llo ca tio n ac tiv ity ; S up po rti ng lo ca l in du str ie s; U sin g lo ca lly so ur ce d m at er ia ls Bu ild in g de ve lo pe rs ; M un ic ip al d ec isi on m ak er s Li nd bl ad 2 02 0; F ra nz in i e t a l. 20 18 Acta Wasaensia 85 13 Silva Fennica vol. 56 no. 1 article id 10609 · Jussila et al. · Wooden multi-storey construction market development… Ta bl e 3. C at eg or iz at io n of th e th em es o f b ar rie rs fo r W M C m ar ke t d ev el op m en t i n pr od uc tio n sp he re w ith in st ru ct ur es o f h ou sin g pr ov isi on . Th em es o f p ro du ct io n sp he re b ar rie rs K ey ro le a ct or s Li te ra tu re Sy ste m d ev el op m en t L oc k in e ff ec ts : P at h de pe nd en cy ( e. g. , i n co nc re te ); R is k av oi d- an ce ; H ig h co sts ; M at er ia l a va ila bi lit y; L ac k of e xp er ie nc e & ed uc at io n; T ec hn ic al fo cu s o n co ns tru ct io n Co ns tru ct io n co m pa - ni es ; A rc hi te ct s Jo ne s e t a l. 20 16 : M ah ap at ra K ., G us ta vs so n L. 2 00 8; H em str öm e t a l. 20 17 ; L az ar ev ic e t a l. 20 20 ; N or di n et a l. 20 10 ; R ia la a nd Il ol a 20 14 ; H ur m ek os ki e t a l. 20 18 ; B ys he im a nd N yr ud 20 09 ; T yk kä e t a l. 20 10 ; M ah ap at ra e t a l. 20 12 ; R ig gi o et a l. 20 20 ; M al lo a nd E sp in oz a 20 15 ; H em str öm e t a l. 20 11 ; R oo s e t a l. 20 10 ; G os se lin e t a l. 20 18 ; H ur m ek os ki e t a l. 20 15 ; F ra nz in i et a l. 20 18 ; H yn yn en 2 01 6; S te hn e t a l. 20 02 In no va tio ns In ab ili ty to a da pt c ha ng es ; R ec og ni tio n an d tra di tio n; L ac k of re qu is it es f or e ffi ci en t i nf or m at io n m an ag em en t s ki ll s W oo d el em en t m an u- fa ct ur er s; D ev el op er s Pe lli a nd L äh tin en 2 02 0; L in dg re n an d Em m itt 2 01 7; P er ss on e t a l. 20 09 ; S an db er g et a l. 20 08 Bu sin es s c ol la bo ra tio n Co m pe tit iv en es s o f W M C (e sp ec ia lly te ch ni ca l i nf ra str uc tu re ); M ul ti- pa rty e nv iro nm en t, lo os e- co up lin gs (l ac k of st ab le p ar tn er - sh ip s & c ol la bo ra tio n) ; L im ite d nu m be r o f i nd us try a ct or s; M is- m at ch in in fl ue nc e an d m at er ia l p re fe re nc es a m on g st ak eh ol de rs ; C on fl ic t o f in te re st ; L ac k of c ol la bo ra ti on / co -o pe ra ti on ; F ie rc e co m pe tit io n D ev el op er s; Pr oj ec t ac to rs ; O th er st ak e- ho ld er s To pp in en e t a l. 20 19 a; R ig gi o et a l. 20 20 ; F ra nz in i e t a l. 20 18 ; M ar ks trö m e t a l. 20 19 ; T op - pi ne n et a l. 20 19 b; H yn yn en 2 01 6 St ak eh ol de r a w ar en es s La ck o f k no w le dg e & in fo rm at io n; N eg at iv e pe rc ep tio ns o f pr od uc t f ea tu re s ( e. g. , F ire p er fo rm an ce , w at er c on tro l, du ra bi lit y co nc er ns ); In ad eq ua te in fo rm at io n di str ib ut io n; N eg at iv e ex pe ri- en ce o f w oo d pr od uc ts A rc hi te ct s; En gi - ne er s; Co ns tru ct io n co m pa ni es ; M un ic i- pa l c iv il se rv an ts Ri al a an d Ilo la 2 01 4; M ah ap at ra e t a l. 20 12 ; R ig gi o et a l. 20 20 ; M al lo a nd E sp in oz a 20 15 ; Ro os e t a l. 20 10 ; M ar ks trö m e t a l. 20 18 ; F ra nz in i e t a l. 20 18 ; M ar ks trö m e t a l. 20 19 In sti tu tio na l c ha ng es In st it ut io na l f ra m ew or k, lo ck -i ns ; In effi ci en t p ol ic y m ea su re s & pr oc es se s; Bu ild in g co de c om pa tib ili ty M un ic ip al c iv il se r- va nt s; A rc hi te ct s; W oo de n bu ild in g m at er ia l p ro du ce rs La za re vi c et a l. 20 20 ; M al lo a nd E sp in oz a 20 15 ; H em str öm e t a l. 20 11 ; G os se lin e t a l. 20 18 ; Vi he m äk i e t a l. 20 20 ; V ih em äk i e t a l. 20 19 ; F ra nz in i e t a l. 20 18 U rb an p la nn in g D is cr ep an ci es in p er ce pt io n of th e la nd a ll oc at io n pr oc es s; I ns uffi - ci en t p ro cu re m en t p ro ce ss es fo r m un ic ip al iti es ; L ev el o f c om pe - te nc e di sp la ye d by m un ic ip al iti es M un ic ip al iti es ; D ev el op er s Li nd bl ad 2 02 0; L in db la d 20 21 M ar ke t d em an d Im m at ur e m ar ke t, la ck o f pu ll e ff ec t, la ck o f co ns um er d em an d El em en t m an uf ac - tu re rs ; A rc hi te ct s; Co ns um er s Br eg e et a l. 20 14 ; H em str öm e t a l. 20 11 86 Acta Wasaensia 14 Silva Fennica vol. 56 no. 1 article id 10609 · Jussila et al. · Wooden multi-storey construction market development… not addressed in any of the reviewed studies as a theme, which would comprise obstacles for the WMC. Instead, the barriers were identified in relation to all other seven themes, of which most were connected to System development (e.g., lack of knowledge and information, limited experi- ence with building with wood) and Stakeholder awareness (e.g., negative perceptions of product features such as fire safety, water control, durability), and Business collaboration (e.g., lack of collaboration, lack of stable relationships). In addition, for example, in relation to Urban plan- ning, discrepancies in actor perception of the land allocation process and deficiencies municipality capacities for public procurement processes were mentioned in the literature. Especially from the perspective of research on WMC market development potential it is worth of noticing that while information on the barriers were found for Market demand, such enablers were not addressed in the reviewed literature at all. Compared to production sphere, information connected to consumption sphere especially on the enabling factors was almost non-existent in the reviewed literature. Like shown in Table 4, findings made on the enabling factors did not address any other themes than Sustainability in building, which were linked with views on ecological, technical and social sustainability benefits of wooden multi-storey houses. All other information on the potential of any other themes (e.g., Business collaboration, Stakeholder awareness) to affect positively WMC market development through consumption sphere was entirely lacking. In reference to issues arisen in the literature pre- sented in the context of the analytical framework of this study, the gaps in information concerned, for example, insights on the possibilities of future residents to enhance value creation possibilities Table 4. Categorization of the themes of enabling factors for WMC market development in connection with consump- tion sphere within structures of housing provision. Themes of consumption sphere enablers Key role actors Literature Sustainability in building Ecological, environmental values, natural material; Technical sustainability (e.g., usability and durability); Social sustainability (e.g., healthy, comfort, aesthetic) Consumers, End users Lähtinen et al. 2019b; Viholainen et al. 2020; Kylkilahti et al. 2020; Mahapatra et al. 2012; Høibø et al. 2015 Stakeholder awareness Ecological awareness Consumers, End users Kylkilahti et al. 2020 Table 5. Categorization of the themes of barriers for WMC market development in connection with consumption sphere within structures of housing provision. Themes of consumption sphere barriers Key role actors Literature Sustainability in building Product features: Durability, robustness, stability, fire safety, acoustics; Higher maintenance; Resale value (UK) Consumers; End users Viholainen et al. 2020; Mahapatra et al. 2012 Stakeholder awareness Lack of awareness among end users; Prejudice against wood (material concerns, fire, moisture etc); Limited knowledge about building materials Consumers; End users Høibø et al. 2015; Lähtinen et al. 2019b; Stern et al. 2018; Toppinen et al. 2018 Urban planning (City) building material traditions Consumers Høibø et al. 2015 and 2018 Market demand Immature market, lack of pull effect; Lack of consumer demand Consumers Brege et al. 2014; Hynynen 2016; Hem- ström et al. 2011 Acta Wasaensia 87 15 Silva Fennica vol. 56 no. 1 article id 10609 · Jussila et al. · Wooden multi-storey construction market development… through communication within business ecosystems (e.g., businesses and local governance actors). Compared to enabling factors in consumption sphere, the number of identified barriers for WMC market development was considerably higher as presented in Table 5. They cover especially issues connected to the themes of Sustainability in building (e.g., especially product features) and Stakeholder awareness (e.g., limited knowledge on materials), but also to the themes of Urban planning (building traditions in cities), and Market development (e.g., lack of consumer demand). Similar to the results on the enabling factors consumption sphere, the only key actors identified in connections with the barriers in consumption sphere were the end users and residents. This also shows that in the existing research on WMC market development, both information on the link- ages between consumption and production spheres, and possibilities of actors to affect the WMC marked development as stakeholders in the system is largely missing. Fig. 4 summarizes the results on the linkages between the existing research information on the eight themes of enabling factors and barriers in relation to SHP. In the illustration, missing circles in consumption sphere (e.g., lack of circle on Market development) depict themes, which have not been addressed from that perspective in the reviewed literature. In themes, characteristics defined as enabling factors are marked with blue, while barriers are colored with red. As can be seen, from the perspective of housing markets, the focus of previous studies has been on the issues related to production sphere, while consumption sphere has gained considerably less attention. In addition, information on the issues connected to exchange sphere is according to our results cur- rently non-existent. However, also information on issues connected to production sphere is also unbalanced and especially knowledge on Market demand is very narrow and linked dominantly with the identification of barriers instead of bringing a more balanced view on WMC market development potential. Like described in the detailed results on the production and consumption spheres (Table 2, 3, 4, 5), also knowledge on the potential of actors to play key roles for WMC market development Fig. 4. Existing research information on the themes connected to the structures of housing provision. Enabling factors are denoted in the figure with blue, and barriers with red. Missing circles in exchange and consumption sphere illustrate lack of research information on those issues at the moment. 88 Acta Wasaensia 16 Silva Fennica vol. 56 no. 1 article id 10609 · Jussila et al. · Wooden multi-storey construction market development… is limited and siloed. Regarding production sphere, the focus of research has been mainly on those value-chain actors, who are directly involved directly in the construction processes (i.e., product manufacturers, engineers, and construction companies). Contrastingly, the actors who could, for example, through business ecosystems enhance value co-creation (e.g., local-level governance actors or residents) have been largely by-passed in the existing research. Regarding the third research aim on approaches used, of the 42 articles, 67% (n = 28) articles used a qualitative approach, 24% (n = 10) a quantitative approach and 9% (n = 4) used a mixed approach. Among the articles that used qualitative approach the most used way to describe the study was to call it a case-study or a multiple case-study (n = 16). Almost all the articles with a quantitative approach were described as a survey (n = 9). In the case of data gathering method, the most commonly used method among the qualitative articles was interviews, which was used in 25 out of 28 articles, although only 14 of these articles relied solely with interview as a method to collect data. Other methods to collect data in the qualitative approaches were the use of focus groups, literature collection, secondary data collection, surveys and workshops. In the quantitative articles, nine out of 10 used a questionnaire/survey to collect the data. 5 Discussion In this systematic literature review, we analyzed and synthesized the current scientific literature on the factors related to wooden multi-storey construction (WMC) demand, supply and local govern- ance. Our specific aim was to synthesize the key barriers and enabling factors for WMC market development and identify the key actors mentioned in the WMC literature. In addition, we also summarized the types of research methods and analytical approaches used in the previous studies. As a method of analysis, we followed a PRISMA method. Our results are based on 42 relevant peer-reviewed articles published in 2006–2020, while the volume of activity appeared to have increased in 2018–2020. Technological development towards industrialization in the construction industry and possibilities to use wood-based solutions in the multi-storey building started to gain increasing attention in the early 2000s (Schuler et al. 2001; Jonsson and Rudberg 2014). Our results indicate that research inputs on the WMC market development evolved after the phase of research focus on technological views on industrializa- tion and wood building. Despite the increase in the number of peer-reviewed studies connected to WMC market development especially in the context of housing markets since 2006, international scientific research on theme is still very much in its’ infancy. Our results suggest that some of the key enablers include benefits arising from increased prefabrication, such as increased material efficiency in construction processes, resulting in lower material costs, and rapid installation (Persson et al. 2009; Roos et al. 2010; Markström et al. 2018). In addition, wood is perceived to bring benefits in the WMC, especially among wood manufac- turing companies and architects (Nordin et al. 2010; Riggio et al. 2020; Peters et al. 2020), but this push is not sufficient to rapid acceleration of WMC business, at least not yet. As a barrier to system development, the lack of experience from using wood in multi-storey construction, and the path dependencies with concrete and steel construction continue to be the key hindrances for mainstreaming of the WMC (Mahapatra and Gustavsson 2008; Riala and Ilola 2014; Hemstöm et al. 2017). However, the demand side enablers and barriers remain a great unknown, due to a gap in research. Although housing markets function as a system of production, consumption and exchange, our results show that the information on WMC market development is still under-developed. In reference to structures of housing production (SHP) (Burke and Hulse 2010), actors in exchange Acta Wasaensia 89 17 Silva Fennica vol. 56 no. 1 article id 10609 · Jussila et al. · Wooden multi-storey construction market development… sphere are important as intermediates in the housing markets (e.g., mortgages, insurances) (Österling 2017; Jussila and Lähtinen 2020), but according to our results no research has been made on their roles in the WMC market. In addition, literature on WMC market development has focused mostly on production sphere, while knowledge on consumption sphere is far more limited both regarding the themes and key actors to affect the changes in the construction industry systems. Furthermore, peer-reviewed article results addressing consumption sphere are geographically more limited than information on production sphere concerning mainly information on the Nordic region. Abreast with this, research on local governance mechanisms is also limited, drawing scattered evidence focusing on studies from only Sweden and Finland. The key actors covered in the literature include businesses, for example, contractors, ele- ment manufacturers and architects, and the members of WMC business ecosystem, such as public authorities and residents. In addition, regarding business actors, most of the research information on companies connects directly to wood industries (e.g., manufacturers of modules). With con- struction industry being associated with a high degree of specialization, at local and project levels, future development would require a highly diverse set of actors and related skills to be incorporated in production sphere (Toppinen et al. 2019a). Small scale actors often have limited resources to uptake new technologies and acquire new skills. Possibilities to start to use new building systems and change business logics may be supported through collaboration activities (Brege et al. 2014), which enhance accumulation of special expertise and knowledge to build with wood also in as a part of project-driven business ecosystems (Viholainen et al. 2021a; Lähtinen et al. 2022). From a methodological perspective, we can conclude that the literature is currently dominated by case studies and the use of qualitative data sets. This hinders the generalizability of findings in different regional contexts or across groups of different actors. A few surveys existing in the literature have been targeted to consumers and architects focusing mostly on the aspect to affect their demand and preferences for wood materials. To have broad understanding on the factors affecting WMC market development in different regional contexts, both qualitative and quantita- tive studies addressing views of multiple actors in relation to characteristics of housing markets would be needed. In future studies, more in-depth information is needed on WMC market development. First, there is a need for more longitudinal research on the forms of collaboration with actors in the construction value-chains and emerging business ecosystems (e.g., actors related to exchange and consumption spheres in the system of housing provision). Research on municipal decision- making, land zoning, financing aspects and intermediaries involved in the housing markets were limited (see e.g., Vihemäki et al. 2020). Second, more information is also needed on how more open innovation culture between different actors could be enhanced to broaden the collaboration networks for value co-creation and accumulation of new skills. Third, there is a need to understand better factors enabling formation such forms of collaboration, which would better enable sharing the risks in WMC projects, since this topic was hardly touched upon in the sample. Fourth, stud- ies could also explore ways to turn environmental performance into housing quality attributes through new construction industry practices. Finally, acknowledging better the versatile needs of end-users, for example in terms of modularity of housing, and flexibility in terms of changing uses over building life span, is still needed. Implementation of a systematic literature review requires pre-determining the timespan and criteria for the material searches. Although the use of PRISMA framework adds transparency of the results, the method also has some limitations. Our literature searches were targeted in the time- span of 2000–2020. Due to that, it is possible that studies, which had been published earlier were not included in the initial material of this study. However, since the number of hits received at the identification phase of the literature review process was already considerably high (over 7000), it 90 Acta Wasaensia 18 Silva Fennica vol. 56 no. 1 article id 10609 · Jussila et al. · Wooden multi-storey construction market development… would have not been feasible to have additional years included in the searches. In addition, since the research group made preliminary evaluations for the WMC literature, it was known that most of the studies addressing WMC market development had been published in the past two decades. Regarding selection of language, the systematic searches were targeted at peer-reviewed articles published in English in Web of Science and Scopus. The research group would have had limited possibilities to read the articles also in several other languages. However, since English is the dominant language for peer-reviewed publishing, searches were implemented only in one language. This also added the conceptual coherency of the materials. Since the key words used were identified from previous literature connected to WMC market development, the research on building technologies and assessment of environmental impacts therefore were not in the scope of this study. Moreover, since we also explicitly wanted to focus on WMC, the larger body of literature around housing, especially the use of wood in single-family housing was omitted. Our results show that information exists on how possibilities in production sphere, and more specifically, how issues connected to prefabrication and sustainability in building may contribute to WMC market development. Contrastingly, there is a critical gap of knowledge on the factors, which affect the demand of WMC homes (i.e., consumption sphere) in the housing markets. So far, the focus of research on WMC apartments has mostly been on their supply (i.e., production sphere) in the housing markets, while consumer expectations for WMC homes have gained con- siderably less of attention. In addition, information on the role of financial issues such as the role of mortgages and insurances (i.e., exchange sphere) affecting both supply and demand of homes is entirely lacking in relation to WMC market development. As a conclusion of our study, there is momentum for the sustainability-driven forestry-wood construction value-chains to challenge the dominant concrete-based construction regime through WMC market development. However, to make a change in the construction industry, WMC must be viewed also in the context of the housing markets, not only through supply mechanisms mainly connected with technological benefits and cost-efficiency gains. Acknowledgements The authors are grateful for the two anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments, which enabled to improve the contents of the article. Funding This research has been implemented with the following funding sources: Tandem Forest Values II funding for project “Building up wood construction markets with consumer knowledge, industrial and municipal strategies” (KnockOnWood) ongoing in 2020–2023, Strategic Research Council affiliated with Academy of Finland funding (grant number 335241 and 335245) for project “DECARBON-HOME” ongoing in 2020–2023, Authors’ organizations own funding, i.e., University of Helsinki, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU), and Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke) Acta Wasaensia 91 19 Silva Fennica vol. 56 no. 1 article id 10609 · Jussila et al. · Wooden multi-storey construction market development… Authors’ contributions Jaakko Jussila: Original idea of the article, planning and design of data gathering, formulation of the research questions, selection of the theoretical framework and design of the analysis, implementation of the analysis, interpretation of data and the results, scientific writing of the manuscript, finalization of the manuscript. Emil Nagy: Planning and design of data gathering, selection of the theoretical framework and design of the analysis, implementation of the analysis, interpretation of data and the results, scientific writing of the article, finalization of the manuscript. Katja Lähtinen: Original idea of the article, planning and design of data gathering, formulation of the research questions, selection of the theoretical framework and design of the analysis, interpretation of data and the results, scientific writing of the manuscript. Elias Hurmekoski: Planning and design of data gathering, implementation of the analysis, scientific writing of the manuscript. Liina Häyrinen: Planning and design of data gathering, formulation of the research questions, implementation of the analysis, scientific writing of the manuscript. Cecilia Mark-Herbert: Planning and design of data gathering, implementation of the analysis, scientific writing of the manuscript. 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Acta Wasaensia 97 Effects of institutional practices on delays in construction – Views of Finnish homebuilder families Housing Studies, Published online 14 Aug 2019. DOI: 10.1080/02673037.2019.1651831 Jaakko Jussilaa* and Katja Lähtinenb aDepartment of Marketing and Communications, University of Vaasa, Vaasa, Finland bNatural Resources Institute Finland (LUKE), Finland Correspondence: Jaakko Jussila, jaakko.jussila@student.uva.fi For many consumers, buying a home is the most important purchasing decision they will ever make. Although consumer needs are well met in the detached house business, particularly compared to the multi-story house business, deficiencies still exist. These deficiencies are caused not only by companies’ strategies, but also by institutional factors discouraging the development and launch of innovative business solutions. The purpose of this study is to provide information on the role of institutional practices in the housing markets and construction sector that cause delays in detached house building processes. The analysis employed qualitative data gathered from homebuilder families by phone interviews in January 2015. According to the results, institutional practices pose many challenges in building projects (e.g., acquiring of building permits and financing). In the future, the project planning phase in particular should be developed (e.g., area construction business models and administrative services) to decrease delays caused by purchasers’ lack of decision-making power and administrative skills. Keywords: housing market institutions, detached houses, consumers, building processes, delays Mr. Jaakko Jussila is a doctoral student at the University of Vaasa with an M.Sc. in Marketing. He is conducting research on the construction sector and currently focusing on competition dynamics in the prefabricated housing market. For years he has been working with house manufacturers doing market research and helping them to better understand their customers and business environment. While working as a researcher, he is also serving as the editor-in- chief of a magazine that publishes useful information for future homebuilders. Dr. Katja Lähtinen is Professor in Business Development and Economics (Finnish Natural Resources Institute, LUKE) and Adjunct Professor in Forest Industry Marketing and Management (University of Helsinki) with a PhD from the University of Joensuu, Finland. She is specialized in assessing the competitiveness and sustainability of the forest sector, especially in the context of wood industries. She has published about 40 articles or book chapters in international peer-reviewed publications. In addition, she participates actively in the popularization of science, such as through collaboration with companies and other stakeholder groups. 98 Acta Wasaensia 2 1. Introduction This paper analyzes the role of institutional practices in housing causing delays in detached house building processes. Delays are among the most crucial and common obstacles in the building processes, causing potentially high costs for all partners involved (e.g., Zarei et al., 2017). Due to the complexity of the construction projects (e.g., Dubois & Gadde, 2002, Blayse & Manley, 2004), the use of prefabrication has become more common to streamline construction operations for enhancing speed of the processes through more efficient division of work, for example. From the perspective of institutionalization, the standardization of roles and tasks reduces the need for communication and formal documentation, which in turn decreases risks caused by uncertainty (Kadefors, 1995). In this study, we address institutional practices as causes of building delays and suggest solutions for empirical development in detached house building system. For many consumers, buying a home is the biggest and most important purchasing decision they will ever make (Levy et al., 2008). After making the initial decision, the consumer still has to solve issues related to factors such as the type of property (e.g., a detached house or an apartment in a multi-story building), age of building stock, qualitative characteristics of the dwelling (e.g., floorplan), location and source of financing (Kauko et al., 2002; Koklic & Vida, 2011). The final choice is an outcome of individual factors such as preferences and budget constraints combined with external circumstances like housing market conditions (e.g., supply of houses) arising from different types of institutional practices (e.g., municipality planning and organization of work within and between construction companies) (Levy et al., 2008; Coolen & Hoekstra, 2001; Lindberg et al., 1989; Leishman, 2015). Regardless of the type of property (i.e., a house or an apartment), the drivers for buying, especially in the case of a new dwelling, are related to expectations for ease of living (e.g., availability of modern housing technologies and no need for renovations) (Hasu, 2018). In Acta Wasaensia 99 3 comparison with buyers choosing flats in new multi-story houses, consumers who end up deciding to buy or build a detached house have considerably more power to affect different characteristics (e.g., floorplan, materials) of their homes as a result of differences in business logics and building processes between companies producing houses for the detached and multi- story housing markets (Segerstedt & Olofsson, 2010). Compared with many other countries (e.g., Ball, 1998; Leishman, 2001), detached house construction in Finland are often managed by the homeowners instead of speculative construction by companies (Ruonavaara, 1996a). Along with decision-making power in the purchase phase, the motivation for choosing a detached house has been found to be connected to the broader social context, such as the prevailing ideal of what constitutes good housing (Marsh & Gibb, 2011). For example, according to a Pan-European study (Norris & Domański, 2009), the quality of Finnish housing is good regardless of the type of home in question. Despite this, living in an owner-occupied detached house has been and still is preferred in Finland, which historically has been caused by Finnish policies and work of non-governmental organizations strongly promoting detached housing as an ideal form of living, especially during the 20th century (Ruonavaara, 1996b). In addition, in Finland owning a house is not only related to social values and norms connected to, e.g., intergenerational family relations, but also wealth reserve acting “as their last resort safety net” (Naumanen & Ruonavaara, 2016). Similarly also in Denmark, for example, the characteristics of detached houses (i.e., style, size and location) have been found to serve as symbols of family-building and position in society for their owners (Gram-Hanssen & Bech‐ Danielsen, 2004). According to Gibler & Tyvimaa (2014), socioeconomic changes (e.g., increase in income and wealth) have led to diversification in the housing expectations of customers, which has started to pose pressures to provide more options for personalization in house design. However, they also pointed out that from the perspective of housing companies, factors such 100 Acta Wasaensia 4 as local regulations, control of buildable land and control of building design discourage the development and launch of innovative business solutions that could further enhance the profitability and customer-orientation of companies. In line with this, it has been found that not only decisions made within building companies, but also politically devised instruments and regulatory factors affect the diffusion of innovations in the construction sector (e.g., Blayse and Manley, 2004). Furthermore, solutions made in urban planning processes at the level of municipalities have had major effects, such as on the possibilities of building companies to strategically renew their businesses (e.g., Lähtinen et al., 2019). Thus, several institutional processes and norms (e.g., social, demographic, economic and legal) (Burke, 2012) governed by actors connected to production (e.g., constructors), consumption (e.g., purchasers) and exchange (e.g., lenders) affect the housing system illustrated with Structures of Housing Provision (SHP) (e.g., Ball & Harloe, 1992). The construction sector has been broadly criticized for its lack of innovativeness (Vesa, 2014). For example, housing construction in the UK has been accused of being locked in by inefficient traditions of building, even though these shortcomings have been recognized and government policies have been instituted to encourage renewal in the sector (Lovell & Smith, 2010). Similar findings have been made in Denmark, where low productivity and poor quality have been identified as general problems for the whole construction sector (e.g., Kristiansen et al., 2005), and the state has played an active role in promoting innovativeness through interventions and direct legislative actions (Bang et al., 2001; Rasmussen et al., 2017). Despite the development potential and needs of the detached housing business, relatively little research information exists on the role of institutions and practices of institutional actors affecting the performance of businesses especially from the perspective of homebuilders. In addition, since consumers make home purchasing decisions on the basis of imperfect information (Marsh & Gibb, 2011), special attention is paid to factors causing delays Acta Wasaensia 101 5 in building processes by also taking into account the possible linkages of prefabrication to the extent of the challenges experienced by house purchasers. Related to this, the overall purpose of this study is to fill the existing gap in the research information on the role of institutional practices and means affecting the building processes of detached houses especially from the perspective of delays. Abreast with institutional theories (e.g., Selznik, 1996), the SHP framework (e.g., Ball & Harloe, 1992) is applied to structure the role of private home purchaser in the Finnish detached housing system. By tapping into a better understanding of the viewpoints of their customers, companies could seek possibilities to enhance their customer orientation during building projects and occupancy. Due to the strong traditions and consumer preferences for detached house ownership in Finland, the country provides an appropriate case territory for studying this phenomenon. 2. Detached housing markets globally and in Finland In advanced economies, the housing market is a major branch of the economy from the perspectives of gross domestic production (GDP), construction sector employment and expenditures of households (MacLennan et al., 1998). Moreover, the sector significantly affects employment and economics in other sectors, such as the manufacturing industry, logistics and services (Giang & Sui Pheng, 2011). Regarding the proportion of different types of dwellings in the housing markets, approximately one quarter of people in the European Union (EU) live in owner-occupied homes and one third in detached houses (Eurostat, 2018). Thus, when comparing the characteristics of housing markets in Finland with some other European countries (Table 1), the proportion of detached houses in Finland is comparable to Sweden and the average in the EU, while in Germany the proportion of detached houses is considerably higher (i.e., approx. 50% of the dwellings). 102 Acta Wasaensia 6 Table 1. Examples of housing markets in different countries (mod. from Steinhardt et al., 2013). Country Prefabrication Types of new houses Finland Annual dwelling completions 36,000 (Statistics Finland, 2017) Prefabrication of components and whole houses Offsite construction 70–75% of new detached houses (Omakotirakentaja 2016) 20% detached houses 70% multi-residential houses 10% other (Statistics Finland, 2017) Sweden Annual dwelling completions 42,000 (Statistics Sweden, 2018) Approx. 50-90% of house building is offsite (Fröjdfeldt & Leijon, 2008) Proportionally most commonly used in the manufacture of private, detached homes (Andersson, 2005, as cited in Steinhardt et al., 2013) 27% detached houses 73% multi-residential houses (Statistics Sweden, 2018) Germany Annual dwelling completions 316,000 (Federal Statistics Office Germany, 2018) 13% of new residential building permits were for prefabricated buildings in 2016 17% prefabrication of detached or semi- detached houses, 4% multi-residential houses (Federal Statistics Office Germany, 2018) 38% detached or semi-detached houses 55% multi-residential houses 7% other (Federal Statistics Office Germany, 2018) In Finland, the construction sector has represented roughly 6% of national GDP during the past five years (Statistics Finland, 2018a). In 2016, the construction sector generated turnover of 33 billion euros and employed 157 700 people (Statistics Finland, 2018b). Although preferences for housing in Finland have diversified (e.g., Gibler & Tyvimaa, 2014), most Finns still prefer detached house as their type of dwelling (e.g., Suomi Asuu, 2015). The construction market in Finland has become rapidly concentrated in the Helsinki area and other biggest cities commonly seen as the future growth areas, whereas smaller towns and the countryside are seen to have very little growth potential. The Helsinki capital area covers almost half of all new residential apartments but only about 30% of new detached homes. Furthermore the six biggest cities and their neighboring communities cover about 90% of all new dwellings and about 70% of new detached homes. (Omakotirakentaja, 2016.) Acta Wasaensia 103 7 Detached homes can thus be seen to being concentrated more towards urban areas although they are a logical choice for new house type in the rural area. The trend towards urbanization in Finland is a major phenomenon affecting the demand for detached houses and construction business companies have recognized that there is a need for innovation activities to find urban solutions for housing (see, e.g., Tykkä et al., 2010). Opportunities for developing detached house building businesses exist, since detached house dwellers’ preferences on the location and other characteristics of their homes are heterogeneous and affected by different types of lifestyle issues, for example (Gibler and Tyvimaa, 2014). According to Omakotirakentaja (2016), building starts of new detached houses in Finland decreased by 47% in the 2000–2015 period (Figure 1) as urban planning has focused largely on multi-story buildings due to the population shift into the biggest cities. In the Finnish housing markets, roughly 7000 new detached houses were built in 2016. As a result of declining markets, the competition among house building companies has been intense during the whole of the 2000s, which has also increased the importance of pricing and product differentiation as factors of competitiveness. From companies’ perspective, the sales processes are often long and expensive due to the high involvement of purchasers in planning processes and the common procedure among purchasers is to ask for several tenders from competing firms (Omakotirakentaja, 2016). The proportion of all building starts of new detached houses accounted for by new prefabricated houses increased steadily in the 2000–2015 period from 50% to 80% (Figure 1). Thus, from the perspective of innovations, detached house building companies in Finland can be considered as forerunners in prefabrication, which since the 1960s has been emphasized as an option to enhance the efficiency of production processes and customer orientation among the companies in the building business (Carter, 1967). Among the companies producing prefabricated houses in Finland (approx. 100 in total), the types of 104 Acta Wasaensia 8 prefabrication may vary by housing company and/or purchaser, ranging from the supply of bearing structures, for instance, to the finishing of the entire house, including its interiors. A typical new detached home in Finland is built and occupied by the future homeowner. The average floorspace is 167m2 (living space 142m2) and two quarters of the houses are single storey buildings. In 2015, 68% of new detached homes were built in cities (6% in the center, 46% to conurbation and 16% in sparsely populated areas) and 32% in rural municipalities. The houses are usually simple: 50% of them have four corners and about 90% have less than eight corners. Despite this, most of the houses are customized (e.g., floor plan, material choices and interior fittings). Open kitchen – living room combination is common and most of the houses have built-in saunas and a fireplace. (Omakotirakentaja 2016.) Regarding structural materials, over 80% of detached houses in Finland are made with wooden frames (Finnish Forest Industries Federation, 2010). Independently from type of buildings (e.g., detached or multi-storey houses), compared to other construction materials (i.e., concrete, steel and brick) (Schittich, 2005), the strength of wood as a building material is its lightness, which makes wooden components easy to manufacture and transport (Brege et al., 2014; Riala & Ilola, 2014). Figure 1. Building starts of detached and prefabricated houses in Finland in the 2000-2015 period (Omakotirakentaja, 2016). Acta Wasaensia 105 9 The use of pre-manufactured timber-frame systems and extensive use of pre-assembled modules of internal house fittings are common for the housebuilding industries in timber-rich areas like Scandinavia and North-America (Ball, 2003). In addition, wood is commonly utilized also in other areas as a structural material for detached houses due to cultural traditions and other factors (Schittich, 2005). Due to this, there is strong potential for technological development and diffusion of prefabricated houses in the international markets. However, the needs for business renewal are related not only to technologies such as uptake of prefabrication to increase efficiency and reduce costs, but also to increasing capabilities to create customer value and achieve price premiums (Barlow & Ozaki, 2003). In all, it would be vital for prefabricated detached housing companies to improve their understanding of issues such as consumers’ personal situations and external circumstances in order to enhance the efficiency of the purchasing process and the possibilities of consumers to manage the risks when making the final purchasing choice (Koklic & Vida, 2011). From the perspective of building processes, the multi-story and detached house building businesses are quite alike at the general level. However, when comparing the roles of home purchasers in multi-storey house and detached house businesses, the first hand owner of has multiple responsibilities in production (e.g., acquiring the lot, participating in the actual construction, choosing the contractors for the project, organizing tendering), consumption (e.g., choosing the solutions and materials according to personal preferences and needs) and exchange (e.g., acquiring the mortgage, making all the contracts and payments related to the project). Figure 2 illustrates the involvement of detached house purchaser in the phases of a Finnish detached house building project, which are connected to the theoretical framework of this study in the next chapter. 106 Acta Wasaensia 10 Figure 2. The main building process phases of a detached house in Finland (Puuinfo, 2009; Pientalorakentamisen kehittämiskeskus, 2016). 3. Theoretical background on institutions related to the Structures of Housing Provision (SHP) Institutions can be defined as the humanly devised rules of the game in a society as well as the social structures that create, embody and enforce those rules (North, 1991; Ahuja & Yayavaram, 2011). Institutional theories focus on tracking the existence of “distinctive forms, Acta Wasaensia 107 11 processes, strategies, outlooks, and competences, as they emerge from patterns of organizational interaction and adaptation” (Selznik, 1996). Related to this, one aim of institutional theories is to explain issues such as where the institutional elements arise, to what extent organizational structures are a result of institutionalization, and to what extent institutionalization improves organizational performance (e.g., Zucker, 1987). According to institutional theories, organizations are influenced by normative pressures leading them to adopt similar patterns of behavior (Zucker, 1987), which increase coordination and reduce the need for information processing, thereby creating efficiency benefits. As information is necessary for any economic activity and none of the actors has more than limited range of expertise, institutions play vital role to reduce risk and uncertainty related to construction (Ball, 1998). In addition, since power is distributed unequally among individual actors in the social systems, collaboration is a form of being part of a network of relationships and communication flows (Booher & Innes, 2002). Yet, institutions also constrain behavior and hinder changes that might have positive impacts on industries in the form of innovation diffusion, for example (Kadefors, 1995; Eriksson, 2013). The evolution of institutionalism can be traced back decades and in the course of its development, concepts of “old” and “new” institutionalism have emerged (Scott, 2008). In contrast to “old” institutionalism, which approaches development paths leading to institutional divergence, the “new” institutionalism addresses the issues of institutional homogenization (DiMaggio & Powell, 1983; Meyer & Rowan, 1977). According to DiMaggio & Powell (1983), the processes of homogenization can be approached by employing the concept of industrial isomorphism, which is composed of power (coercive isomorphism), attraction (normative pressures), and mimesis (mimetic processes). In addition, Beckert (2010) has added competition as a fourth mechanism of industrial isomorphism. 108 Acta Wasaensia 12 Institutions have a central role in both human interaction and how firms can do business by influencing, for example, their allocation of resources to productive, unproductive or even destructive activities (Baumol, 1990). Institutions are composed of regulative, normative and cultural-cognitive elements that add stability and meaning to social life. For example in the housing markets, the institutional environment is composed of political, environmental, social and demographic, economic, legal and administrative processes and norms, which separately and together affect the performance of the overall housing system (Burke, 2012). They are highly resilient to change, but can evolve over time and vary in different place or context (Scott, 2003). In addition, along with business organizations, political-legal institutions also cause isomorphic pressures such as by imitating “efficient” tax laws, labor laws, or environmental standards representing “regulatory competition” between states, which has become a central feature of political economies (Beckert, 2010). Structures of Housing Provision (SHP) refer to the network of relationships associated with the provision of housing at specific point in time (as defined by Ball, 1998 in reference to SHP). In any country, SHP comprise spheres of production, consumption and exchange, which have evolved in the course of time forming country-specific features (Ball & Harloe, 1992). Based on the work of Ball (2003) and Burke and Hulse (2010) production sphere comprises, for example, mechanisms enabling supply of land through institutions affecting land use planning and land ownership abreast with business strategies and division of work within construction companies. In comparison, consumption is composed of, for example, purchasing and ownership preferences of housing and processes of households to purchase homes, while exchange is related, for example, to financial institutions governing monetary instruments enabling sale, renting and use of housing (Ball, 2003; Burke & Hulse, 2010). According to Boelhouwer and van der Heijden (1993), SHP is not a theory on housing, but rather an approach for describing different housing structures to be further evaluated with Acta Wasaensia 109 13 appropriate theories. For example, by combining the institutional theories with the SHP approach, comprehension on the institutional processes affecting the housing system functions may be deepened. From the perspective of SHP, institutions within the spheres of production, consumption and exchange are interlinked to each other through management systems (e.g., institutional practices and means of different actors) (Burke & Hulse, 2010). These interactions affect the governance of the whole SHP system (e.g., finance institutions, home purchasers, building developers, builders and public authorities) (Burke, 2012). Thus, by connecting institutional theories with the SHP complex nature of housing system can be concretized. For example, impacts of particular institutions do not necessarily reflect only production, consumption or exchange spheres of the SHP, but simultaneously and to a varying extent all of them. As a result of this, when seeking for solutions for particular problems in the housing system (e.g., shortening delays in detached house building processes), understanding these interactions supports perceiving, which of the problems might be solved rather straightforwardly and which might require more profound scrutiny of the whole housing system. For example, in case of construction sector institutions (Kadefors, 1995) tendering system seem to affect production sphere, while governmental regulations have potential impacts on all spheres of SHP through housing policies and financial markets (see Table 2). In addition, some institutions in the housing system are formal (e.g., norms and regulations on land use planning and building governed through legislation), while some are informal ones (e.g., established forms of operations to manage building processes within business networks) (e.g. Scott, 2003; Toppinen et al., 2019). The level of formality affects the management systems available for actors to govern the SHP (e.g., civil servants implementing land use policies versus private home builder bidding tenders), although there are still degrees of freedom for actors in choosing their institutional practices and means (Alexander, 2005). Thus, simultaneously with supporting the institutionalized myths (e.g., organizational image), 110 Acta Wasaensia 14 formal organizations are required to seek for flexibility to enhance efficiency of their managerial practices (Meyer & Rowan, 1977). As a result of this, there may be considerable variation in the institutional practices even within organizations with high level of formality. Thus, enhancing comprehension on the causes of delays in the detached housing building processes requires consideration of not only institutions as such, but also their linkages to institutional practices and means of different actor governing the SHP spheres. This is especially relevant in the context of Finland, where the degree of formality of the institutions and the power of different actors to govern the management systems vary considerably. To summarize and depict the multi-dimensionality of the housing system in reference to the SHP and institutional theories, the conceptual linkages of institutions, actors, and management systems (i.e. institutional practices and means) are illustrated in Figure 3. Figure 3. Institutional practices of actors within spheres of production, exchange and consumption in relation to SHP structures. In the international business environment, economic processes and norms affect both production and consumption of dwellings (Burke, 2012), although the financial mechanisms Acta Wasaensia 111 15 vary from one country to another due to differences in their national institutional settings (Österling, 2017). Generally, from home purchasers’ point of view, economic institutions affect housing markets through mortgage loan issuance (Kutlukaya & Erol, 2016), which together with interest rates comprises the main driver for demand in the housing market (Warnock & Warnock, 2008). In comparison, housing production is more affected by institutions making decisions on the regulatory environment (e.g., land use policies and building norms) and structures of the construction sector, while the impacts of economic institutions are less straightforward (Warnock & Warnock, 2008). Housing suppliers may indirectly benefit from macroeconomic mechanisms by gaining market advantage through preferential market access or capital market inefficiencies, speculative land purchases and taxation factors (Ball et al., 2000). Mortgage markets in Europe including Finland – are affected by legal and regulatory issues controlling the loan origination, consumer protection and enforcement of lenders’ rights as well as urbanization (Kutlukaya & Erol, 2016). In the EU-level, the European Central Bank (ECB) controls financial markets by setting the basic frames to interest rates, which in turn sets the frame for Euribor rates. The 12-month Euribor is most widely used reference rate for housing loans in Finland. The Bank of Finland has reported that over 90% of all housing loans in the country were tied to Euribor rates in 2014 (Bank of Finland, 2014). Due to this the development of Euribor rates are important for the Finnish housing and construction sector. Another financial institution is the Third Basel Accord by the Bank for International Settlements, which sets framework on bank capital adequacy, stress testing, and market liquidity risk. After the housing bubble in the US in 2007–2009, the banks are more concerned on the collateral value of properties, which thereby has tightened the mortgage lending in Finland in the past couple of years especially in the rural areas. 112 Acta Wasaensia 16 Abreast with “traditional” economic processes and norms related to, for example, mortgage markets, nowadays the importance of global megatrends (e.g., climate change, urbanization and demographic changes) (e.g., Lützkendorf et al., 2011) have started to play increasingly critical role in the SHP through several institutional processes and norms emerging in international policies (e.g., European Commission, 2014; Ecodesign Directive, 2009). Although regulation has positive impacts on improving housing standards, enhancing sustainable development and creating business opportunities for forerunner building companies (e.g., Andersson et al., 2007; Lützkendorf et al., 2011), it may also cause additional costs, uncertainty and delays in the building processes (e.g., Al-Khalil & Al-Ghafly, 1999). Delays are among the most crucial obstacles to the success and performance of construction projects (Zarei et al., 2017). Especially from the perspective of home purchasers, inefficient regulation has been found to decrease the diversity of supply of dwellings in the housing market (Puustinen & Kangasoja, 2009) and delimit the possibilities of house buyers to make choices of their own in their home design (Gibler & Tyvimaa, 2014). From the house builders’ point of view, impractical regulation increases construction costs and decreases the possibilities for innovation diffusion (Puustinen & Kangasoja, 2009), which have been found to be crucial for mind-set renewal in the construction sector (e.g., Holt, 2013). All in all, compared to less- regulated housing markets, in the areas of extensive land use regulation the amount of new building starts has been found to be 45% lower (Mayer & Somerville, 2000). The next goal to be achieved by 2020 is the introduction of so-called net zero energy balance (NZEB) buildings that will produce all the energy they require on-site. In case of detached houses located in northern European countries such as Finland, achieving NZEB requires the development of innovative energy systems for buildings (Mohamed et al., 2014). In the construction sector, these required advancements in technologies may create new Acta Wasaensia 113 17 business opportunities for forerunner companies if their impacts on purchasers can be communicated, such as their possibilities to enhance the quality of living (Lützkendorf et al., 2011; Toppinen et al., 2018). Institutions and individual actors with their practices affect the potential for renewal for the construction industries (Rasmussen et al., 2017). Abreast with industrial building, for example needs related to sustainable construction and enhancement on customer orientation are driving the needs for changing the detached housing business. For empirical categorization of the construction sector institutions, a framework introduced by Kadefors (1995) is being employed. The framework consists of six elements of institutions: “Governmental regulations,” “Tendering system,” “Formal standardization initiated by the industry,” “Standardization of skills and knowledge,” “Roles and interest organizations” and “Learning and routine”. In Table 2, the categorization of institutions is supplemented with examples on the roles of different actors as well as their means and practices (Scott, 1987) in the detached house building processes. At the phase of qualitative analysis, information in Table 2 is employed to identify and evaluate the potential causes of delays faced by Finnish detached house builders by taking into account also the connections of institutional practices to SHP system. 114 Acta Wasaensia 18 Table 2. Institutions in the construction sector combined with examples of their linkages to means and practices of institutional actors (modified from Kadefors 1995). Institution Actor(s) Practices and means 1. Governmental regulations EU-level, national, regional and local officials and politicians EU-directives, national and local regulation and policies affecting eg,housing policy, urban planning and financial markets. Ensuring that good practices are being followed in building permit procedures, building supervision, technical solutions and usage of buildings (e.g., Land Use and Building Act (132/1999)) 2. Tendering system Future homeowners, main contractors and sub-contractors Competitive bidding systems, established/familiar contractor contacts. Using bidding processes to find an optimal combination of suppliers for a given construction project, for instance (e.g. Hatush & Skitmore, 1997). 3. Formal standardization initiated by the industry Industrial and standards associations, manufacturers and suppliers, EU authorities and officials Guidelines, accreditations, formal sertifications and terms of delivery. Assuring that components and technologies are applicable with each other independently from selected suppliers in the bidding processes (Dubois & Gadde, 2002) 4. Roles and interest organizations Industrial associations and non-governmental organizations Lobbying and guidelines for practitioners, voluntary sertifications and reporting systems. Facilitation of knowledge diffusion throughout the construction sector and provision of normative directions for member companies and other organizations, such as through negotiations and lobbying (Vermeulen et al., 2007) 5. Standardization of skills and knowledge Home manufacturers, main designer, contractors, consultants, project manager, project supervisor, construction foremen, clients and future homeowners. Information exchange and experience, formal and informal education. Trial and error, development of new practices. Enhancing capabilities to re-engineer construction processes and define new “best practices” without compromising efficient and error-free project implementation (Roy et al., 2005). 6. Learning and routines All the above Social skills and informal collaboration among actors. Communication capabilities. Developing social patterns, practices and processes that support the dissemination of information and knowledge diffusion between separate projects, and also enhancing the uptake of new routines and process innovation capabilities as, for example, customer needs become more diverse (Bresnen, 2003). Acta Wasaensia 115 19 4. Material and methods The material of this study (Table 3) is composed of survey data gathered in January 2015 as a part of Rakennustutkimus RTS Oy’s “Omakotirakentaja” series of surveys carried out annually since 1983. The data gathering process was targeted by phone interviews at 2,404 families, who in the fall 2014 had acquired building permit in Finland to start a detached house construction project. Table 3. The material of the study. Initial sample Data gathering process Final data 2,404 people were contacted twice by phone* 772 people could not be reached after two attempts Responses of 661 people on three questions for further analysis: Question 1: “Have you had major delays from the original schedule in your building project? If so, what kinds of problems were these and what are your views on the reasons for the problems?” Question 2: “Have you faced problems in acquiring the plot? If so, what kinds of problems were these and what are your views on the reasons for the problems?” Question 3: “Have you faced problems related to acquiring the building permit? If so, what kinds of problems were these and what are your views on the reasons for the problems?” 485 refused to participate in the study 181 interrupted the interview during the phone conversation 305 were disqualified for various reasons (e.g., the person provided an incorrect phone number or construction was not relevant to them *The contact information of the sample was ordered from the Population Register Centre (http://vrk.fi/en/frontpage), which in Finland in the official authority to manage population information system. In all, the survey consisted of 24 questions, of which questions on the level of prefabrication progress of the building project were addressed in the analysis of this study. The data analysis was implemented both quantitatively and qualitatively in three stages as described in Table 4. The quantitative analysis was based on calculus of frequencies and the statistical nonparametric Mann-Whitney U test (also known as Wilcoxon rank sum test), executed with 116 Acta Wasaensia 20 IBM SPSS Statistics software to check whether statistical indications on connections between the existence of major building delays and the level of prefabrication could be found. The motivation for using nonparametric test procedure was twofold: First, Mann-Whitney U Test does not assume that the data in each group tested would be taken from normally distributed populations. Second, it is appropriate to be utilized in cases where calculus of mean is not statistically justified (e.g., ordinal data on occurrence of building delays and level of prefabrication) (Berenson et al., 2002). In qualitative analysis, data thematization was employed to add comprehension on the magnitude of institutional practices as factors having negative effects on detached house building projects. As a method, thematization suits for evaluating a specific phenomenon in concrete contexts, especially as it asks respondents to describe their internally meaningful experiences without predetermined structures (Holloway and Todres, 2003). In this study, thematization was employed both as data-driven and theory-driven approaches to check what kinds of categories of delays could be identified independently from theoretical assumptions, and what could be recognized in reference to theoretical background on institutions and SHP. Acta Wasaensia 117 21 Table 4. The three stages of data analysis implemented with quantitative and qualitative approaches. Purpose of analysis Data coding Methods of analysis First stage (Information on the level of prefabrication and Question 1) Information on occurrence of building delays 0=No, no major building delays 1=Yes, major building delays Frequencies of respondents with and without experiences on building delays by level of prefabrication of their houses (Quantitative approach) Mann-Whitney U test to assess statistically the connections between experiences on building delays and level of prefabrication of the houses (Quantitative approach) Information on the level of prefabrication in purchased houses purchased 0=No information on the level of prefabrication 1=No prefabrication, 2=Some level of prefabrication (i.e., building structures, but not interiors) 3=High level of prefabrication (i.e., building structures and also all or most of the interiors) Second stage (Questions 2 and 3) General information on the occurrence of delays especially at planning and preparation phases of the building project Data-driven thematization Frequencies of experiences on different types of general delays (Quantitative and qualitative approach) Third stage (Question 1) Detailed information on causes of building delays during different building project phases Theory-driven thematization in reference to Kadefors (1995) and SHP Frequencies of experiences on delays caused by different institutional practices (Quantitative and qualitative approach) 5. Results concerning institutions affecting the performance of detached home building processes 5.1 Prefabrication and general causes for delays According to the results of the first stage of analysis, altogether 168 interviewees, representing 26% of the 661 respondents, had experienced major delays in their building projects (question 1). From the perspective of the role of prefabrication, the results in Table 3 suggest that the occurrence of major building delays had not differed by level of prefabrication (i.e., percentages of the level of prefabrication were quite alike between the respondents without and 118 Acta Wasaensia 22 with experiences of delays). This finding is also supported by the results of the Mann-Whitney U test for independent samples, according to which no indications of statistically significant differences between the groups were detected (p-value=0.754). Based on this, the level of prefabrication was regarded to be irrelevant from the perspective of analysis of the role of institutions as factors causing building delays. In addition, compared to the proportion of prefabricated house building starts in the Finnish detached house markets in 2014 (71%), the share of prefabrication (i.e., some level or high level of prefabrication) in the material of the study (69.7%) is almost the same (see Figure 1 and Table 5). Table 5. Frequencies and proportions of groups of respondents by experiences of major building delays and the level of prefabrication of the purchased detached house. No information on the level of prefabrication No prefabrication Some level of prefabrication High level of prefabrication Total No, no major building delays 13 (2.6%) 132 (26.8%) 220 (44.6%) 128 (26.0%) 493 (100 %) Yes, major building delays 9 (5.4%) 46 (27.4%) 68 (40.5%) 45 (26.8%) 168 (100%) The second stage of analysis was more specifically related to the more detailed question 2 (i.e., issues with the plot) and question 3 (i.e., issues with the building permit), providing information at a general level on the issues that had caused major delays especially in launching the detached house building projects. In all, 122 interviewees (18%) had faced problems with the plot (question 2) and 109 (16%) with building permits (question 3). Geographically, the respondents that had experienced delays represented the whole of continental Finland. Thus, no geographic differences were identified in the occurrence of building process delays between Acta Wasaensia 119 23 different areas of Finland. The general reasons for delays mentioned by the respondents and the proportions of the 168 respondents with experiences of those delays are illustrated in Figure 4. Figure 4. Experiences of different types of delays in detached house building projects faced by the respondents (n=168). Based on the experiences of the respondents, the most important single cause of delays in house building projects (over 35% of the respondents) stemmed from issues related to building permits, while problems with finance also had quite notable impacts (close to 25% of the respondents) on the performance of the processes. From the perspective of the institutional practices, building permits are related both to the legal and administrative processes and norms (i.e., governmental regulations) within the SHP (Figure 3) production sphere. In addition, the result concerning financing as a factor commonly affecting performance in building projects is in line with the previous literature (Warnock & Warnock, 2008), emphasizing the major role 0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40% Other reasons Own schedules Weather House manufacturer Workforce Planning Plot Life situation Finance Building permit 120 Acta Wasaensia 24 of mortgage loan issuing and interest rates as drivers for exchange and consumption for housing in the SHP system. However challenges with finance can be related both to governmental regulation related to financial markets and purchasers’ individual financial management and/or budgeting skills affecting their possibilities to receive mortgage. Thus interpreting what the respondents mean as “finance problems” in the data is ambiguous. Apart from institutional practices, the general life situation of the respondents had a considerable effect (close to 15% of the respondents) on construction processes. However, as unexpected changes in life (e.g., the birth of a child, divorce or lack of time) are often beyond one’s control, results related to them can be considered to be part of the general risks involved in home building projects (e.g., Mulder & Lauster, 2010) related to the consumption sphere of SHP. All in all, the processes under the responsibility of suppliers of the dwellings (i.e., planning, workforce and house manufacturer) played a relatively minor role overall in the different types of delays faced by the respondents. 5.2. Institutional practices as specific causes for delays The final and third stage of analysis comprised data categorization of detailed descriptions and views of the reasons behind the problems experienced by respondents, especially with respect to institutional practices within the construction sector (Kadefors, 1995) by also considering their linkages to the SHP (e.g., Ball & Harloe, 1992). In all, a total of 115 respondents (i.e., 68% of the respondents with experiences of some types of delays) mentioned in their answers issues, which in the analysis were associated with practices of construction sector institutions. Delays caused by institutional practices had impacts on either one or several building project phases (Figure 2). Although most of the respondents specified only one type of delay they had experienced during their building project, there were 14 interviewees who had faced several types of delays in their projects. Due to that, the sum of frequencies for delays Acta Wasaensia 121 25 mentioned by the respondents (Table 6) is higher than the total number of respondents with experiences of institutional types of delays (n=115). Table 6. Frequencies for different types of delays in reference to individual institutions at different building process phase(s). Institution Preplanning and planning phase Preparation phase Building phase Total Governmental regulations 8 43 4 55 Tendering system - 1 7 8 Formal standardization initiated by the industry 5 3 - 8 Roles and interest organizations - - - 0 Standardization of skills and knowledge 48 8 11 67 Learning and routine 2 1 1 4 As illustrated in Table 6, institutional practices connected to “Standardization of skills and knowledge” (e.g., deficiencies in capabilities to organize and to keep on schedule and understand the risks of financing the project) was the most important cause for delays, especially during the planning phase. In reference to SHP, the result indicates deficiencies in the production sphere of the detached housing system. The result is logical, as the detached house building projects are managed by homebuilder families as a difference, for example, to industrial multi-storey construction processes managed where professional building developers are responsible for organization of work. Abreast with the practices mainly under responsibility of the homebuilders themselves (e.g., organization of work in planning phase), institutional practices linked to “Governmental regulations” governed by public officials within the production spheres of the SHP very frequently caused delays in building projects, especially during the preparation phase (e.g., the slow bureaucracy involved in obtaining a building permit). 122 Acta Wasaensia 26 In addition, the respondents mentioned practices related to “Tendering system” (e.g., problems with the contractors, subcontractors or house building company), “Formal standardization initiated by the industry” (e.g., challenges with the designers making the plans for the house) and “Learning and routine” (e.g., lack of “chemistry” between the actors). In reference to SHP, these issues are also connected organization of work within production sphere illustrating well the two-fold role of homebuilders in the detached house construction sector business. Compared to industrial building, in detached house building the future home owners are not only within the consumption sphere of the SHP system, but through involvement in management of building processes also strongly involved in the production sphere. However, the practices related to “Tendering system”, “Formal standardization initiated by the industry” and “Learning and routine” were notably less common causes for delays than the ones related to “Governmental regulations” or “Standardization of skills and knowledge.” In some cases, problems with certain institutional practices reflected in several building project phases. For example, one respondent had faced challenges in building a type of detached house that is relatively new in Finland, as many actors lacked the necessary know- how, which cumulatively affected the overall performance of the building project (i.e., many kinds of deficiencies had emerged in “Learning and routine”). All in all, the interrelationships between the institutional causes of delays and project phases were quite clearly related to an individual building project phase and practices connected to one type of institution and its practices. Examples of the typical problems by building project phases mentioned by the respondents are illustrated in the quotes below: Preplanning and planning phase “Standardization of skills and knowledge”: Respondent #5 “Selling the old apartment did not proceed as was hoped” or Respondent #82 “Problems with the bank in securing a mortgage loan.” Acta Wasaensia 123 27 “Governmental regulations”: Respondent #3 “Preparation of the city plan took years” or Respondent #32 “Changes in the city plan.” Preparation phase “Governmental regulations”: Respondent #95 “Acquiring the building permit took six weeks more than promised” or Respondent #35 “Summer holidays of the city [planning] employees.” “Standardization of skills and knowledge”: Respondent #75 “Paperwork was demanding” or Respondent #167 “Official paperwork.” Building phase “Standardization of skills and knowledge”: Respondent #6 “Maybe a little, when doing-it- yourself, the schedule has been stretched” or Respondent #144 “More excavation work was required on the building site than expected.” “Tendering system”: Respondent #34 “[Problems in] acquiring the excavator postponed the preparation of the foundation” or Respondent #139 “Receiving tenders was scarce.” To supplement the results concerning the impacts of practices within individual institutions on delays, the existence of adverse effects on building performance caused simultaneously by modes of operations within two institutions were also examined. In all, 16 respondents (14% of the total amount of respondents who had experienced some delays) had encountered challenges in the building projects that from the perspective of analysis had characteristics of practices executed in two institutions. Regarding the contribution to the results, the explanations for the causes of delays in these cases were probably less ambiguous and as such were expected to provide some insights into the dynamics between the institutions and the risks they caused for home purchasers. 124 Acta Wasaensia 28 Figure 5. Building delays caused by combinations of two institutions. The numbers on the lines are the frequencies for observations (n=16). All of the responses linked to practices characterized by two institutions were intertwined with “Governmental regulations,” “Learning and routine” or “Standardization of skills and knowledge.” The result is in line with the outcome of the analysis of individual institutions, in which the practices of these three institutions within the production sphere of the SHP system were found to mostly affect building project delays (Table 3). Yet, compared to the results concerning the impacts of individual institutions, in cases where multi-faceted problems were encountered, the role of purchasers’ personality or personal preferences seemed to play a bigger role along with actual issues related to institutional practices. In addition, the relationships with causes and consequences seemed to be less clear, as the following quotes illustrate: “Governmental regulations” and “Learning and routine”: Respondent #59 “Complaints and dismissals of a neighbor” or Respondent #112 “Inability of [community] building supervisors to collaborate.” “Governmental regulations” and “Standardization of skills and knowledge”: Respondent #7 “An appropriate lot has not been found” or Respondent #25 “Finding a lot for the type of house chosen delayed the project for two months.” Acta Wasaensia 125 29 All of the issues mentioned above may have been strictly related to characteristics of institutional practices. For example, in Finland, the hearing of neighbors is an official part of the building permit application process, and especially in case of deviations from the official city plan, permission from the neighbors is required (Land Use and Building Decree, 1999). Thus, challenges in the interface of “Governmental regulations” and “Learning and routine,” for instance, may be caused by inflexibilities of the regulatory system or deficiencies in formal social patterns to enhance communication between different actors (e.g., detached house builder, community building supervisors and neighbors). In that case, even though the delays resulted from a combination of two types of institutions, the reasons behind them would still have been institutional ones. However, another explanation for the delays could be that the home purchasers had unrealistic preferences in terms of the characteristics and location of the house from the perspective of the city plan or neighboring milieu. In that case, the institutions would not have been the actual cause of the delays. Similarly, the quotes linked to “Governmental regulations” and “Standardization of skills and knowledge” may illustrate either deficiencies in the norms and processes of institutions or problems caused by the house purchasers themselves. Challenges in finding a lot may have stemmed from reasons such as problems among authorities to provide land for building, which also reflects deficiencies in the processes and routines of the city planning system (production sphere in the SHP). Yet, this is not the only possible explanation – such delays may also have been caused by the purchasers’ decision to choose the wrong type of house with respect to the city plan – maybe even despite the instructions given by the authorities (consumption sphere in the SHP). Thus, as a concluding remark, by employing the data of this study it is not possible to present unambiguous results on multi-institutional issues to develop detached house building processes or manage risks related to them. 126 Acta Wasaensia 30 6. Discussion The purpose of this study was to address institutional practices as causes of delays on detached house building processes in the context of Finland. In all, 168 (26%) of the respondents had faced general building project delays mostly connected to building permits, finance and general life situation. In addition, from purchasers’ viewpoint, practices associated with the construction sector institutions were found to be important causes of detached house building project delays (altogether 68% of the all experiences on delays) at different phases of project implementation. From theoretical point of view, the identified connections between institutional structures (Kadefors, 1995) and empirical building project phases gave indications on the applicability of institutional approach in studying the detached house building within the SHP system. However, theoretical development would be needed to describe more transparently the roles of particular actors within and between specific institutions. This would allow illustrating, how different actors with their real-life practices are actually positioned in the SHP system affecting also implementation and outcomes of building processes. In this research, a preliminary examination on that was made by positioning the results in the SHP framework. In a broader context and future research, this approach might bring new avenues for analyzing the obstacles and drivers of change in the housing markets. Based on the findings and in reference to the SHP, for homebuilder families most of the identified causes of delays were caused by institutional practices of public authorities or homebuilders’ own skills within production sphere. The result on the role of public authorities in building delays indicates that the level of formality of a particular institution does not necessarily mean well-functioning institutional practices. Instead, high level of institutionalization may produce inefficiencies (see Meyer and Rowan, 1977). Compared to aspects in production, issues linked to exchange sphere played a minor role (e.g., financing for Acta Wasaensia 127 31 house building). In addition, problems connected solely to consumption sphere (e.g., inability to make decisions on purchasing or unavailability of appropriate house models) were not mentioned at all. In reference to the SHP, the results showed that in the context of Finnish detached home building processes, production and consumption spheres are closely intertwined to each other. Due to that, the usage of SHP seemed to provide useful insights on the multi-dimensional nature of institutions, practices and means affecting the detached house purchasing system especially in the context of Finland. As a difference to the speculative building processes (i.e., professional builders act as managers in the production sphere), Finnish homebuilder families have two-fold position both as customers in the consumption sphere and organizers of work in the production sphere. In order to better illustrate the fuzzy boundaries between different spheres within the SHP system, in future studies comparisons with branches of business with similar roles of clients as managers and purchasers might be useful. Regarding managerial implications, an important outcome is that although the detached house building process is characterized by complexity (i.e., many issues linked to preplanning and planning, preparation and building phases), the processes handled by house building companies had functioned quite well. In all, less than 5% of delays could be identified to be caused by the companies. According to the results, the level of prefabrication did not have a statistically significant relationship with the occurrence of major building project delays. Thus, from the perspective of potential business development towards even higher levels of prefabrication, the result indicates that as such there are no special business risks related to the level of prefabrication from purchasers’ point of view in relation to construction sector institutions. Compared to industrial building processes (e.g., multi-story houses) managed by professional building developers, the detached house building processes are run by private 128 Acta Wasaensia 32 house purchasers usually without any professional education in construction. Moreover, since detached houses are usually built as one-off projects, purchasers do not gain any benefits from institutional accumulation of knowledge and skills. This creates a knowledge gap between different actors in the construction process and prohibits institutional practices related to “Learning and Routines” to strongly involve or evolve in the process. This is a major difference compared to other building types in the structures of housing provision and tends to decrease the quality of construction (see, e.g., Ball, 1998). To develop the project organization in the detached house business, building companies could take a bigger role as a “node” of information sharing and in diffusion of skills, such as through provision of services, which would enhance the risk management among purchasers and companies themselves. For example, if purchasers were more familiar with the bureaucracy and documentation needed during the building process along with the financial requirements and general issues related to scheduling, the processes of individual purchasers would become more predictable also from building companies’ point of view. In addition to finding individual-level solutions to manage the challenges faced by purchasers, another approach to dealing with the deficiencies in knowledge could be to develop more purposefully the business models of area construction. In that business model, a house building company takes the key role as a professional building developer to build an area of detached houses. As a result of this, there would be no need for individual purchasers to take responsibility for issues that in multi-story building projects belong to professionals. This could also lead to an increase in new types of dwellings in the markets (e.g., townhouses, which are currently uncommon in Finland). From companies’ point of view, taking more responsibilities in the preplanning, planning and preparation phases would also mean more power to manage uncertainties caused by purchasers due to unrealistic or unsuccessful house design choices related to city plans, for instance. As the results concerning the impacts of two institutions on Acta Wasaensia 129 33 the building project delays showed, purchasers as actors in a construction sector system may also be the actual drivers of delays, for instance in cases where they do not follow the binding norms or processes of different institutions. If considered as obstacles within companies, especially processes and norms in “Governmental regulations” and “Standardization of skills and knowledge” may discourage the development of innovations (see, e.g., Blayse and Manley, 2004; Gibler & Tyvimaa, 2014; Lähtinen et al., 2019). However, based on the results, there are possibilities to discover new business solutions in the detached house markets by approaching from new angles the roles of different actors in the building projects. The limitation of the study is the fact that the results of this study are based only on experiences of house purchasers in one country (Finland) in one year (2014), they provide only a limited view of the phenomena of delays caused by institutions in the detached house markets. However, the Finnish detached house markets – in which there is a rather high level of prefabrication and needs for business renewal, for instance in meeting diversifying consumer needs (e.g., Gibler & Tyvimaa, 2014) – represent a good case for obtaining preliminary insights into the potential issues to be studied in other geographic contexts. From the perspective of empirical information, in the future it would be valuable to gather comparative material from several countries to support understanding of consumer needs and challenges in different geographic areas. Acknowledgements The authors thank Rakennustutkimus RTS Oy for providing the survey data for this research. We are also grateful for the two anonymous reviewers for their comments on the earlier versions of this article. 130 Acta Wasaensia 34 Literature Ahuja, G. & Yayavaram, S. 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