Cost overruns in transportation infrastructure projects: Sowing the seeds for a probabilistic theory of causation

© 2016 Elsevier LtdUnderstanding the cause of cost overruns in transportation infrastructure projects has been a topic that has received considerable attention from academics and the popular press. Despite studies providing the essential building blocks and frameworks for cost overrun mitigation and...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Love, Peter, Ahiaga-Dagbui, D., Irani, Z.
Format: Journal Article
Published: Pergamon Press 2016
Online Access:https://bradscholars.brad.ac.uk/handle/10454/11323
http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/58463
_version_ 1848760266890674176
author Love, Peter
Ahiaga-Dagbui, D.
Irani, Z.
author_facet Love, Peter
Ahiaga-Dagbui, D.
Irani, Z.
author_sort Love, Peter
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description © 2016 Elsevier LtdUnderstanding the cause of cost overruns in transportation infrastructure projects has been a topic that has received considerable attention from academics and the popular press. Despite studies providing the essential building blocks and frameworks for cost overrun mitigation and containment, the problem still remains a pervasive issue for Governments worldwide. The interdependency that exists between ‘causes’ that lead to cost overruns materialising have largely been ignored when considering the likelihood and impact of their occurrence. The vast majority of the cost overrun literature has tended to adopt a deterministic approach in examining the occurrence of the phenomenon; in this paper a shift towards the adoption of pluralistic probabilistic approach to cost overrun causation is proposed. The establishment of probabilistic theory incorporates the ability to consider the interdependencies of causes so to provide Governments with a holistic understanding of the uncertainties and risks that may derail the delivery and increase the cost of transportation infrastructure projects. This will further assist in the design of effective mitigation and containment strategies that will ensure future transportation infrastructure projects meet their expected costs as well as the need of taxpayers.
first_indexed 2025-11-14T10:13:03Z
format Journal Article
id curtin-20.500.11937-58463
institution Curtin University Malaysia
institution_category Local University
last_indexed 2025-11-14T10:13:03Z
publishDate 2016
publisher Pergamon Press
recordtype eprints
repository_type Digital Repository
spelling curtin-20.500.11937-584632022-09-01T06:19:07Z Cost overruns in transportation infrastructure projects: Sowing the seeds for a probabilistic theory of causation Love, Peter Ahiaga-Dagbui, D. Irani, Z. © 2016 Elsevier LtdUnderstanding the cause of cost overruns in transportation infrastructure projects has been a topic that has received considerable attention from academics and the popular press. Despite studies providing the essential building blocks and frameworks for cost overrun mitigation and containment, the problem still remains a pervasive issue for Governments worldwide. The interdependency that exists between ‘causes’ that lead to cost overruns materialising have largely been ignored when considering the likelihood and impact of their occurrence. The vast majority of the cost overrun literature has tended to adopt a deterministic approach in examining the occurrence of the phenomenon; in this paper a shift towards the adoption of pluralistic probabilistic approach to cost overrun causation is proposed. The establishment of probabilistic theory incorporates the ability to consider the interdependencies of causes so to provide Governments with a holistic understanding of the uncertainties and risks that may derail the delivery and increase the cost of transportation infrastructure projects. This will further assist in the design of effective mitigation and containment strategies that will ensure future transportation infrastructure projects meet their expected costs as well as the need of taxpayers. 2016 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/58463 10.1016/j.tra.2016.08.007 https://bradscholars.brad.ac.uk/handle/10454/11323 http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/DP160102882 Pergamon Press unknown
spellingShingle Love, Peter
Ahiaga-Dagbui, D.
Irani, Z.
Cost overruns in transportation infrastructure projects: Sowing the seeds for a probabilistic theory of causation
title Cost overruns in transportation infrastructure projects: Sowing the seeds for a probabilistic theory of causation
title_full Cost overruns in transportation infrastructure projects: Sowing the seeds for a probabilistic theory of causation
title_fullStr Cost overruns in transportation infrastructure projects: Sowing the seeds for a probabilistic theory of causation
title_full_unstemmed Cost overruns in transportation infrastructure projects: Sowing the seeds for a probabilistic theory of causation
title_short Cost overruns in transportation infrastructure projects: Sowing the seeds for a probabilistic theory of causation
title_sort cost overruns in transportation infrastructure projects: sowing the seeds for a probabilistic theory of causation
url https://bradscholars.brad.ac.uk/handle/10454/11323
https://bradscholars.brad.ac.uk/handle/10454/11323
http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/58463