IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/kap/transp/v49y2022i2d10.1007_s11116-021-10191-7.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Perceived risk of lock-in in the front-end phase of major transportation projects

Author

Listed:
  • Chantal C. Cantarelli

    (The University of Sheffield)

  • David Oglethorpe

    (Cranfield University)

  • Bert Wee

    (Delft University of Technology)

Abstract

Lock-in is defined as the tendency to continue with an inefficient decision or project proposal. The front-end phase is critical to project success, yet most studies have focused on lock-in in the implementation phase. Moreover, little is known about the way in which decision-makers perceive the risk of lock-in. In this paper we identify determinants of lock-in in the front-end phase and we reveal decision-makers’ perceptions of risk of lock-in. Our findings show that risk attitudes towards lock-in vary with the level of risk aversion. However, this is not sufficiently acute to drive the level of regret needed to avoid lock-in. This implies that decision-makers do not accurately assess the risk of lock-in and as such their risk perceptions are a mediating factor in the formation of lock-in. Based on escalation of commitment, path dependency, and prospect theory, the main contribution lies in providing a more comprehensive understanding of lock-in in the front-end phase.

Suggested Citation

  • Chantal C. Cantarelli & David Oglethorpe & Bert Wee, 2022. "Perceived risk of lock-in in the front-end phase of major transportation projects," Transportation, Springer, vol. 49(2), pages 703-733, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:transp:v:49:y:2022:i:2:d:10.1007_s11116-021-10191-7
    DOI: 10.1007/s11116-021-10191-7
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s11116-021-10191-7
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s11116-021-10191-7?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:kap:transp:v:49:y:2022:i:2:d:10.1007_s11116-021-10191-7. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.