Capital control as institutional integrator: fuzzy Delphi and PLS-SEM evidence on its mediating role between capital management practices and schedule performance in public road infrastructure

While construction management research extensively examines project-level schedule determinants, it overlooks institutional financial governance mechanisms regulating capital flows in public projects. This study examines how capital control mediates relationships between four capital management practices __ capital plan alignment, capital allocation, capital plan implementation, and implementation accountability __ and schedule performance in public road infrastructure. Using fuzzy Delphi method, 33 management practice indicators were validated with 12 expert panelists, then tested via partial least squares structural equation modeling with data from 189 Vietnamese professionals. Findings reveal that capital control fully mediates the effects of capital allocation, capital plan implementation, and implementation accountability on schedule performance, whereas capital plan alignment shows no significant effect on schedule performance, either directly or through capital control; together, the hypothesized model explains 40.3% of variance in schedule performance. These findings reconceptualize schedule performance as institutional financial governance outcome, theorize capital control as dynamic integrator synchronizing strategic, allocative, executional, and governance functions, and differentiate between fully mediated and non-significant pathways across capital management functions. Strengthening capital control through integrated monitoring, transparent allocation criteria, and synchronized reform packages can significantly improve schedule adherence, particularly in emerging economies with institutional fragmentation.