IMPACTS OF GOVERNANCE CONSTRAINTS ON ODA PROJECT QUALITY: EXPLORATORY STUDY

Abstract

Effective project implementation is critical to the success of transportation projects and significantly contributes to the productivity and economic growth. Unfortunately, many transportation projects in developing countries have not yet met their expected outcomes. This study aims to explore the governance constraints in the construction phase and their impacts on the quality of the transportation projects funded by the official development assistance (ODA). Based on 340 survey questionnaires collected from both national and provincial project management units (PMUs) in Vietnam, the mean score method was first used to rank the governance constraints in construction. The results showed that site clearance and handover, capital shortage and parties’ incompetence and irresponsibility were assessed to be the most significant governance constraints by both managers and other members involved in ODA-funded transportation projects. Following the results of one-sample t test, a significant difference between ODA-funded and government-funded projects was also found on five constraints: site clearance and handover, capital shortage, delayed payments to contractors, donor involvement, and cost escalation. In addition, the results of regression analysis indicated that project quality could be significantly affected by such constraints as site clearance and handover, changes in scope of work, review/approval of change orders, cost escalation, and imported long-lead items. These results together could provide international sponsors and practitioners with some useful insights to better implement ODA-funded transportation projects in Vietnam and other developing countries.