The poverty business: landlords, illicit practices and reproduction of disadvantaged neighbourhoods in Czechia

Kupka, Petr; Walach, Václav; Brendzová, Alica

doi:10.1007/s12117-020-09402-x

Cited by 9 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 28 publications

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“…Synthesising the regulatory aims and practical understanding, the magnitude of monetary sanction is central in deterring violations against building regulations (including the production of substandard housing). In the same vein, several studies on housing regulation in Australia [12,13], Czechia [75,76] and the United Kingdom [77] suggest that illegal housing production results when the risks of penalty are outweighed by the expected profitability. Considering the failure of building control, we particularly draw on Vols and Belloir's [56] qualitative findings in investigating the rogue landlords who frequently infringe on building control regulations in the Netherlands.…”

Section: Applicability Of the Game-theoretical Models On Explaining T...mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This view challenges the usefulness of social-cultural deterrent theories that are built upon morality and ethics. Numerous grounded studies have suggested that the growth of informal and illegal dwellings is attributed to profitability and speculation [13,64,75,76]. Conceivably, classic criminologi-cal theories based on the rational choice model seem to offer a better explanation of the game between enforcers and property owners who produce ISUs.…”

Section: Deterrent Effects Of Building Enforcement: Certainty Severit...mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Similar to other regulations, building regulations display many features of a commandand-control instrument that aims at ensuring compliance using tools of deterrence and fear of sanctioning [57,64,75]. Synthesising the regulatory aims and practical understanding, the magnitude of monetary sanction is central in deterring violations against building regulations (including the production of substandard housing).…”

Section: Applicability Of the Game-theoretical Models On Explaining T...mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, whether landlords in Hong Kong follow this line of thought is still unanswered. Although much has been written on the ineffectiveness of building control against both UBWs and ISUs [42,43,[73][74][75][76][77][78][79][80][81][82][83][84][85], studies on the efficiency of the current legal device to tackle the problem of ISUs have been rare. Whether or not the increase in the monetary penalties like fines can prohibit the expanding trends of ISU remains unreciprocated.…”

Section: Research Gaps and Conceptual Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As mentioned in various studies [12,13,64,[75][76][77], the ISU operators are relatively rational and consider the severity of the regulation violation. Empirically, past enforcement experience in coping with ISUs exhibited low severity.…”

Section: High Profitability Of Operation and Low Level Of Penalties: ...mentioning

confidence: 99%

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No More Illegal Subdivided Units? A Game-Theoretical Explanation of the Failure of Building Control in Hong Kong

Yau¹,

Yip²

2022

Buildings

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Safety has long been regarded as one of the most important functional requirements of buildings. However, building safety in Hong Kong has long been jeopardised by the proliferation of unauthorised building works (UBWs), which are essentially works constructed without any prior approval or consent of the government. Due to the acute problem of housing supply–demand imbalance, the numbers of illegal subdivided units (ISUs) in the city have been increasing since the early 2010s, frequently resulting in injuries and deaths amongst the residents. It is therefore a matter of urgency for the government to tackle the problem. Speculative property owners construct ISUs in their premises for economic gain so the government needs to enforce rules against the construction of ISUs. Building inspection should be carried out to uncover cases of illegal construction for subsequent enforcement actions. In this article, a game-theoretic model for the strategic control of existing buildings in Hong Kong is developed to illustrate that, when the level of punishment against ISU increases, the less frequent ISU inspections needed by the government will be, and concurrently, the chances of ISU construction by property owners will decrease. The model offers valuable insights into why Hong Kong’s building control system fails to solve the problem of ISU proliferation in the city.

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Section: Applicability Of the Game-theoretical Models On Explaining T...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Deterrent Effects Of Building Enforcement: Certainty Severit...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Applicability Of the Game-theoretical Models On Explaining T...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Research Gaps and Conceptual Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: High Profitability Of Operation and Low Level Of Penalties: ...mentioning

confidence: 99%

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No More Illegal Subdivided Units? A Game-Theoretical Explanation of the Failure of Building Control in Hong Kong

Yau¹,

Yip²

2022

Buildings

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What Seems to be the Problem? Ex-Prisoners’ Reentry/Resettlement in the Czech Republic

Mertl

2022

Crime & Delinquency

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The study is focused on the reentry/resettlement problems that are faced by ex-prisoners in the Czech Republic (CR). Findings are based on semi-structured interviews with 26 ex-prisoners and 30 social workers who provide social services in prisons and after the release. Based on the data, which were coded inductively employing qualitative content analysis, several post-prison issues emerged: (1) material deprivation and insecurity regarding housing, subsistence, and stable employment; (2) debts and enforcement proceedings; (3) prisonisation effect; (4) health issues; (5) relationships with family and significant others; (6) drug abuse; (7) meaningful leisure time. Particularly, more attention was given to housing, subsistence, stable employment, and debts and enforcement proceedings because, compared to other countries, these issues have their specifics in the CR. Findings, interpreted through the optics of intersectionality, suggest that the Czech social policies regarding ex-prisoners are focused on a one or selection of factors, instead on the complex interplay of them, as well as not properly targeted and delivered in the right time. To improve the situation, the better system of social services financing that would address the ex-prisoners’ complex needs must be implemented along with the housing first policy and more accessible personal bankruptcy.

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Politics of the Debtfare State: Repoliticizing the Czech Debt Enforcement Order and Its Limits

Šitera

2022

Critical Sociology

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In Czechia, one of the statistically most equal and least indebted states, almost one-tenth of its (mostly low-income) population is entrapped in debt enforcement proceedings. I foreground such a contradiction to investigate the politics of the debtfare state in East-Central Europe (ECE). This nuances the scholarship on the repolitization of the ECE neoliberal state by populist forces and their instrumentalization of its middle-class welfare state strategies in the 2010s. Identifying the Czech debt enforcement industry as a leading poverty industry in ECE, I explore its depoliticizing origins in the Debt Enforcement Order (DEO), a flagship legal framework regulating the creditor–debtor–bailiff relations. Interpreting the political struggle over the DEO-centered debtfare state strategy, I then trace its limited repolitization since the mid-2010s, which redirects its reforms from their original pro-creditor and -bailiff prioritization to a prioritization of low-income debtors. This politics complements the repolitization of the neoliberal state beyond populism.

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The poverty business: landlords, illicit practices and reproduction of disadvantaged neighbourhoods in Czechia

Cited by 9 publications

References 28 publications

No More Illegal Subdivided Units? A Game-Theoretical Explanation of the Failure of Building Control in Hong Kong

No More Illegal Subdivided Units? A Game-Theoretical Explanation of the Failure of Building Control in Hong Kong

What Seems to be the Problem? Ex-Prisoners’ Reentry/Resettlement in the Czech Republic

Politics of the Debtfare State: Repoliticizing the Czech Debt Enforcement Order and Its Limits

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