Publishing construction contracts to improve efficiency and governance

Construction is a £1100 billion industry worldwide, much of which is linked to publicly financed projects. However, cost and time escalation and poor quality are commonplace due to weak governance and endemic corruption. There is considerable evidence that transparency and oversight are potentially powerful tools to reduce the impact of corruption. This paper argues that a comparatively cheap and potentially powerful tool to improve outcomes in public procurement is regular publication of contract and implementation details. In particular, the publication of government contracts would considerably improve transparency, helping to improve efficiency and reduce costs.