Corruption has been shown to negatively affect project management in the following ways: increased operational costs, inflated prices of project inputs, compromised quality of output, etc.
The following are empirical studies conducted to ascertain the causes and consequences of corruption in project management from various parts of the globe.
Effect of forms of corruption on cost performance in building projects in Gombe State, Nigeria
This study investigated the impact of different forms of corruption on cost performance of building projects in Gombe State, Nigeria. The target population included construction professionals operating in Gombe State, Nigeria. Consequently, 210 architects, core building professionals, quantity surveyors, and builders were targeted in this study. Using a purposive sampling technique, a sample size of 132 respondents was selected to participate in this study. Data collection was done using questionnaires. Descriptive statistics (frequencies, percentages, mean, and standard deviations) were used to analyze the descriptive variables. Regression analysis and the Relative Importance Index (RII) model were used to assess the relationship between the independent and dependent variables. The findings were presented in suitable tables as needed (Haruna et al., 2025).
The following were identified as the most prevalent forms of corruption in building projects in Gombe State, Nigeria: kickbacks, embezzlement, bribery, misuse of resources, bribing officials, extortion by officials, ghost payments, and non-implementation. According to the results of regression analysis, 21.5% of the variance in cost performance was established to be caused by the identified forms of corruption. In addition, misuse of resources was shown to have a positive and significant impact on cost performance of building projects in the study area. On the other hand, bribing officials, bribery, and extortion by officials were shown to have a negative but significant impact on the cost performance of building projects in the study area. Meanwhile, the results revealed that kickbacks, ghost payments, and non-implementation had an insignificant impact on the cost performance of building projects in the study area (Haruna et al., 2025).
Effect of corruption on achievement of construction project goals
This study explored the effect of corruption on the achievement of the goals of construction projects in Ondo State, Nigeria. The target population included professionals working in the construction sector such as architects, builders, engineers, and quantity surveyors. 61 respondents were selected to participate in the study. Data collection was done using questionnaires. The collected data was analyzed using descriptive statistics such as frequencies and percentages. The findings were presented in relevant tables as required (Olowolayemo, 2023).
According to the results, the main effects of corruption on the achievement of the goals of construction projects in Ondo State include the high cost of the project due to inflation of the price of the bill of quantities, an increase in the cost of materials, unrealistic claims during the project execution phase, and the creation of a monopoly. In addition, it was revealed that corruption had a greater effect on the cost of the project than on the quality aspect, safety, time of delivery, and client satisfaction (Olowolayemo, 2023).
Causes and consequences of corruption in the building construction industries
This study explored the causes and impact of corruption in the building construction industries in Taraba State, northeastern Nigeria. The study also explored possible solutions to the problem of corruption in the building construction industries in the study area. The target population included professionals, contractors, state government officials, federal government officials, and public procurement officers in the building construction industries in Nigeria. A sample size of 55 respondents was selected to take part in the study. Questionnaires and interviews were used as the main tools for data collection. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze descriptive variables of the study. The findings were presented using tables, pie charts, and graphs as required (Mohammed, 2022).
The results identified the following factors as the main causes of corruption in construction industries in Taraba State, Nigeria: personal greed, weak procurement or contractual structures, lack of rigorous supervision, close relationships, government interference, insufficient legal punishment and penalty mechanisms, poor quality control systems, lack of transparency in the tendering process, lack of an official projects anti-corruption system, monopoly, and poor records documentation (Mohammed, 2022).
To address the problem of corruption in the target industries, the findings reported that the government should deploy qualified personnel to implement procurement procedures that are in line with state requirements. In addition, adoption of transparent e-procurement systems was touted as one of the ways in which corruption would be reduced in the target industries. Furthermore, the study reported the following as more ways of mitigating corruption in the target industries: adoption of rigorous technical auditing systems, introduction of stringent rules and regulations to punish culpable culprits, introduction of administrative reforms and stringent ethical codes to punish offenders, introduction of efficient contract monitoring systems to eliminate loosed ends during tendering and procurement procedures, and instituting a special unit to protect whistleblowers of grand corruption scams in both the federal and state government offices (Mohammed, 2022).
Effects of corruption on infrastructure projects in developing countries
This study examined the impact of corruption on infrastructure projects in Pakistan. The target population included 200 respondents drawn from staff currently working in infrastructure projects in Pakistan. Data collection was done using questionnaires. The collected data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and the Relative Importance Index (RII). Findings were presented using tables as deemed fit (Khadim et al., 2021).
The findings identified the following as the main effects of corruption in infrastructure projects in Pakistan, starting from the highly ranked to the least: creation of monopoly, increased operational cost, lower project quality, increased procurement expenses, decreased foreign investment, lower government revenue, entry barriers for small firms, reduced lifespan of the constructed facility, increased litigation, increased income inequality, decline in social values, customer dissatisfaction, higher public investment, reduced legitimacy, project mismanagement, increased nepotism, hindered socio-economic development, de-motivated workers, deterioration of company image, project abandonment, cost of strict inspection, decreased productivity, and delivery time delays (Khadim et al., 2021).
On the other hand, the study identified the following as the ‘positive’ impacts of corruption in infrastructure projects in Pakistan: faster documentary processes, reduced time delays, increased competition, and that bribes motivated individuals to work harder (Khadim et al., 2021).
Corruption as a source of government project failure in developing countries: evidence from Ghana
This study examined the contribution of corruption to the failure of government projects in Ghana. In particular, the study set out to determine the following: the contribution of corruption to the abandonment of government projects in Ghana; the contribution of corruption to cost overruns in government projects in Ghana; the contribution of corruption to time overruns in government projects in Ghana; the contribution of corruption to negative requirement deviation of government projects in Ghana; the contribution of corruption to stakeholder dissatisfaction in government projects; and the contribution of corruption to the retarding of the sector in areas where government projects have been implemented (Damoah, 2018).
The study used the interpretive philosophy and social construction paradigm methodology to address the research questions. Purposive sampling was used to choose four sets of participants for the study, including relevant government officials, contractors, the general public, and project management practitioners. These were selected on the basis of their knowledge about corruption issues and failure of government projects in Ghana. A qualitative research method was also used to collect data from government officials where actual corruption takes place. The researcher used semi-structured face-to-face interviews together with Skype interviews where appropriate to collect data from the selected 30 participants. The collected data was later refined, defined, and organized into a comprehensive framework that explains corruption in government projects and its contribution to project failure (Damoah, 2018).
The findings revealed that corruption contributed to the abandonment of government projects through partisan politics and demand for bribes by government appointees in charge of the projects. The results also showed that corruption contributed to cost overruns through inflation of contracts by government officials working in cahoots with contractors. Also, the government officials contributed to the cost overrun of government projects by engaging the services of middlemen who made monetary demands in return for their services (Damoah, 2018).
Furthermore, the study findings revealed that corruption contributed to time overruns in government projects when civil and public servants engaged by the state demanded bribes before certifying projects. If the contractor failed to heed their demands, these officials refused to clear the projects, hence causing late project kick-off and subsequent completion. Also, the results revealed that the awarding of contracts took longer than usual to get approval from government officials and their middlemen whenever their demands for bribes were unmet. This led to the delivery of low-quality projects, as money that would have been used in the project is diverted to bribes (Damoah, 2018).
The results also showed that corruption contributed to stakeholder dissatisfaction with the delivery of government projects. The general public was the main stakeholder adversely affected by corruption in government projects. Lastly, the findings demonstrated that failure of government projects at the management level ended up affecting service delivery by the entire public sector. Ultimately, national development gets negatively impacted due to corruption witnessed in the delivery of government projects (Damoah, 2018).
Corruption in public projects and megaprojects: there is an elephant in the room!
This study examined corruption in public projects and megaprojects using Italian high-speed railways as a case study. In particular, the study pursued two main objectives: firstly, it examined project characteristics that favor corrupt practices, and secondly, it investigated the impact of a corrupt context on the performance of public projects. Project performance was assessed using Merrow’s framework. According to this framework, project performance is measured using five parameters, including cost overruns, slip in execution time, quality, cost competitiveness, and schedule competitiveness (Locatelli et al., 2017).
The findings identified the following characteristics as the ones responsible for corruption in the public projects case of Italian high-speed railways: project size, project uniqueness, heavy involvement of the government, technical complexities associated with the projects, and organizational complexities of the projects. The results also identified the following as the main effects of corruption on project performance: the infrastructure suffers extra costs, remarkable delays in delivery of projects, failure of the infrastructure to deliver expected benefits, and sub-optimal allocation of resources (Locatelli et al., 2017).
Corruption and its effects on the development of the construction industry in Malawi
This study investigated the causes of corruption in the Malawian construction sector and how it has affected development of the industry. Specifically, the study sought to accomplish the following objectives: to determine the relationship between delays in project completion and corruption; to find out the relationship between poverty and corruption in the construction industry; to examine the relationship between lack of ethics and corruption in the construction industry; and lastly, to establish the relationship between poor working conditions and corruption levels in the target industry (Chiocha, 2009).
Both primary data and secondary data were collected to address the hypotheses of the study. Primary data was collected using questionnaires, interviews, and participant observation. A sample size of 70 respondents, including residential developers, built environment professionals, building and civil engineering contractors, bankers, accountants, public works officials, homeowners, and politicians, participated in the study. Secondary data was obtained from existing information in the public domain, including press reports, textbooks, journals, the Internet, and conference papers. Data analysis was done using appropriate methodologies as deemed fit by the researcher. Descriptive statistics (frequencies, percentages) were used to analyze the descriptive variables. The findings were presented in suitable tables, charts, and graphs as deemed fit (Chiocha, 2009).
According to the results, the high rate of uncompleted projects in the Malawian construction industry was attributed to corrupt practices. The findings revealed the following factors as the causes of corruption in the Malawian construction industry: great economic pressure, weakening of society’s values, and high poverty levels in the country. The findings also revealed the following individuals as the main perpetrators of corruption in the Malawian construction industry: built environment professionals, building contractors, politicians, public works officials, and accountants. Furthermore, the results demonstrated the following as the main reasons for corruption in the Malawian construction industry: contracts being awarded to a friend, lack of goods and services, a malfunctioning and inefficient administration, ambiguous regulations and loopholes in the legal framework, lack of moral standards and widespread dishonesty, and the desire to get rich quick at all costs (Chiocha, 2009).
The findings also revealed the following as the effects of corruption in the Malawian construction industry: loss of tenders due to collusion; demand for payments for tasks (for example, valuation) undertaken by consultants; the same tender document being priced to two different clients; one supplier quoting differently for the same item; bid rigging; short delivery for ordered goods; supply of poor-quality goods; contractors being paid for incomplete work; increase in quantities of work by consultants and receiving payments for the same; presentation of false documentation by contractors; and falsification of certificates of testing on work completed by contractors (Chiocha, 2009).
Finally, the results presented the following as the measures to be undertaken to fight bribery and corruption in the industry: establishment of a code of conduct and ethics program, establishment of a bribery and anti-corruption policy, implementation of a comprehensive ethics program, instituting stringent rules for employee recruitment, review and improvement of internal controls, undertaking thorough and conclusive investigations in all corruption-related cases, increasing budget for security, offering training programs on how to detect and combat bribery and corruption, and introduction of ethics education at all levels of learning (Chiocha, 2009).
Citation
Chiocha, C.I.M. (2009). Corruption and its effects on the development of the construction industry in Malawi. Unpublished Master’s Thesis submitted to the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, Malawi.
Damoah, I.S., Akwei, C.A., Amoako, I.O., and Botchie, D. (2018). Corruption as a source of government project failure in developing countries: evidence from Ghana. Project Management Journal (49(3)).
Haruna, G.Y., Sani, U.K., Jamilu, Y., Abdulkadir, Sani, and Musa M. (2025). Effect of forms of corruption on cost performance in building projects in Gombe State, Nigeria. Journal of Built Environment and Geological Research (JBEGR), 10(4).
Khadim, N., Jaffar, S.T.A., Musarat, M.A., and Ilyas, U. (2021). Effects of corruption on infrastructure projects in developing countries. International Journal on Emerging Technologies 12(1), 284-295.
Locatelli, G., Mariani, G., Sainati, T., and Greco, M. (2017). Corruption in public projects and megaprojects: there is an elephant in the room! International Journal of Project Management 35, 252-268.
Mohammed, A.I. (2022). Causes and consequences of corruption in the building construction industries. International Journal of Advances in Engineering and Management (IJAEM), 4(9), 485-493).
Olowolayemo, O.E. (2023). Effect of corruption on achievement of construction project goals. Jurnal Teknik Arsitektur, 8(3).
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