We use data from the universe of approximately 3000 ongoing formal real estate projects in Mumbai to show that 27.3% of the projects and 42.9% of the built-up space is under litigation. Average construction time is 8.5 years. Using OLS and matching techniques, and controlling for other factors determining time to completion including location, developer experience and project size, we estimate that litigated projects take approximately 20% longer to complete than non-litigated projects. A variety of robustness tests are consistent with this finding. We address potential endogeneity concerns using an instrument ’ the neighborhood’s propensity to sue. The increase in time to completion increases the total cost of building by at least 30%. We identify a small number of litigated projects in the Bombay High Court dockets and find that so-called Public Interest Litigation, litigation begun by people outside the contractual process (i.e. not apartment purchasers, residents, or contractors), appears to be responsible for a significant share of project litigation.

我们使用来自孟买的大约3000个正在进行的正式房地产项目的数据来显示，有27.3％的项目和42.9％的建筑面积正在诉讼中。平均建设时间为8.5年。使用OLS和匹配技术，并控制其他因素来确定完成时间，包括位置，开发人员的经验和项目规模，我们估计，与未提起诉讼的项目相比，诉讼项目所需的完成时间大约长20％。各种鲁棒性测试均与该发现一致。我们使用“邻国提起诉讼的意愿”工具解决潜在的内生性问题。完成时间的增加使建筑物的总成本增加了至少30％。