Policies to Avoid Cost Overruns in Infrastructure Projects: Critical Evaluation and Recommendations

Abstract

Many infrastructure projects have cost overruns and there has been a lot of research both on why these cost overruns occur and what can be done to reduce hem. Bent Flyvbjerg is the leading researcher in the area and in this article his proposals are used as the starting point. Besides a literature review, a questionnaire was sent out to experienced Swedish project managers to find out what they thought could reduce cost overruns. The literature review and the questionnaire were the foundation for the proposals formulated in this article. Proposals concerned three areas: (1). Organisational macro-structure, e.g. using more PPP projects but also decentralisation of budgets where cost overruns in one project in a region lead to less alternative projects in the specific region. (2). Organisational quality: It should be easy to see when and where cost overruns occur and who was responsible. There should be a well-developed knowledge management system in the organisation and an organisation culture of openness with a focus on improvements. (3). Organisational processes, e.g. a systematic use of external reviewers in different stages of a project. Keywords: Cost overruns, Infrastructure projects, Policy measures