Determinants of the performance of public sector development projects

International Development (ID) projects are mostly public sector development projects and are particularly prepared for developing and emerging economies to improve their socio-economic needs. Considering the importance of ID projects, this study looks at public sector ID projects that are complex in nature. Through investigating archival data of 100 completed projects of Asian Development Bank, the study empirically analyses project cost and schedule performance and examines causes of deviations. Analysis shows that most late projects experience cost underrun-an unusual cost and schedule variation relation in projects. Further, the main cause of project delay is indentified as contract and procurement delay due to host country government bureaucracy. Research outcome will benefit ID project professionals in both developed and developing economies