Academics and Auditors

Abstract

How common are cost overruns during the delivery of transportation infrastructure projects such as roads, bridges, and public transit facilities, and what explains their occurrence? This article compares the findings of studies by academics and independent government auditors, two groups that have different mandates, objectives, and access to data. There is a high level of consistency in the finding that transportation projects regularly experience escalating costs. Yet there are sharp divergences between the technical and managerial explanations prioritized by the auditors and the political, economic, and psychological explanations prioritized in much of the academic literature. The differences in explanations point to diverse remedies for the challenge of cost overruns.