There Is Cost Growth and Then There Is Cost Growth; Do They Have the Same Causes? (Conference Presentation)

April, 2020
IDA document: NS D-13164
FFRDC: Systems and Analyses Center
Type: Documents
Division: Cost Analysis and Research Division
Authors:
Authors
David L. McNicol See more authors
This presentation presents evidence that calls into question experts’ belief that cost growth in Major Defense Acquisition Programs (MDAPs) is a single malady from which the overwhelming majority of MDAPs suffer. It presents evidence from the literature on the causes of cost growth and from examination of a sample of 185 MDAPs. The evidence indicates that little is known about the causes of cost growth that fall in the middle ground between negative cost growth and significant cost growth.