Why are there so few economies of scale in construction? First part

(Note: I'm trying an experiment where I write slightly shorter articles a little more frequently. Any feedback is welcome.)

The production of goods and services is generally subject to economies of scale: as the volume of production increases, the unit cost of each thing produced decreases. Economies of scale are common - we don't find it surprising that a large company like Walmart or Amazon or Borders (rip) can drive a smaller "mom and pop" competitor out of business with low prices that the competitor can't match , and we would expect a giant company like Toyota to be able to produce cars much cheaper than a small manufacturer like Aston Martin.

Economies of scale are common in manufacturing, agriculture, transportation, and processing industries. But they seem to be very rare in construction.

On the one hand, we see few economies of scale at the level of individual buildings: a large building is only slightly cheaper per square meter than a small building. For example, the RS Means Construction Estimation Guide provides adjustment factors for the cost of construction based on the size of a building relative to "typical". Making a building seven times bigger only lowers the cost per square foot by just under 20%:

And Erkison...