Cost Overruns on Infrastructure Projects: Patterns, Causes, and Cures

Cost overruns and schedule delays have plagued major infrastructure projects for decades. Every year, unexpected overruns cost governments tens, if not hundreds of millions of dollars. Although these are often reported as isolated incidents, they are actually a systemic part of our infrastructure planning. International evidence suggests that the bigger the project, the more likely it will go over budget and miss its deadlines. The results are government budget deficits and a loss of public confidence in government to meet its commitments.

On January 21, IMFG and today’s leading infrastructure thinkers and practitioners convened a conversation about how to overcome cost overruns on public infrastructure projects. The event followed the release of a new paper by Matti Siemiatycki for IMFG, called Cost Overruns on Major Infrastructure Projects: Patterns, Causes, and Cures.