The marked variations in the performance of property companies is well-recognised (see for instance Commerzbank, 1999) These variations, which occur both within property cycles and over longer periods of term, appear to be independent of particular company attributes such as size or portfolio weighting. Despite these variations, there has been limited analysis of the determinants of this differential performance. It is within this context that the paper seeks to improve understanding of the performance of property companies.Scope of the paper The paper starts by demonstrating the variations in performance of UK property companies over time and by sector, on a range of measures. Following the description of differential performance, the paper provides a summary of the insights provided by two distinct theoretical perspectives on the processes of change in property companies: First, the structure and agency perspective (Healey and Barrett, 1990; Guy and Henneberry, 1998; Hobbs, 1998), especially as it relates to the structural constraintss on the performance of individual companies and the scope for individual companies to challenge and run counter to structural forces. Second, the business management literature in understanding differential performance (McTaggart et al, 1994; Morrhead and Griffen, 1995; Obeng, 1996), especially in terms of the scope to develop different types of competitive advantage. On the basis of the theoretical insights, the paper develops a framework and set of criteria to explain the differential performance of property companies. This framework is applied to specific UK property companies to demonstate its relevance in helping understand historic and potential performance.

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