The economic behavior of people living in apartment buildings

In: Vestnik Instituta sociologii: setevoj žurnal = Bulletin of the Institute of Sociology : online electronic journal, Band 31, Heft 4, S. 202-219

Abstract

This article presents the results of a sociological study aimed at examining the strategies that people living in apartment complexes choose in terms of economic behavior in a situation when funds are being collected for major renovation. Under Russian federal law № 271-FZ, home owners must participate in major renovations of community property in apartment complexes on conditions of state co-financing. As a result, citizens are involved in producing a common good in the form of major housing renovation. Given such a situation, people could opt for both pro-social, based on monthly payments for major renovations, and egotistical strategies, which involve refusal to make mandatory payments. Analyzing the economic behavior of people living in apartment complexes in the vein of J. Coleman's rational choice theory allowed for establishing three groups of factors which define the choice of either pro-social or egotistical strategies. The first group of factors acts on an individual level and defines the proportion of those gains and losses considered by an individual when deciding on whether to transfer funds for major renovations. These include subjective evaluation of the building's technical state and financial status. The second group of factors is linked to expectations regarding the actions of other residents in terms of collecting funds for major renovations. The third group of factors manifests itself during interactions between apartment owners and the corporate actors implementing the major renovation program. Trust towards these actors becomes a crucial factor. The influence of the highlighted factors on choosing economic behavior strategies when it comes to collecting funds for major renovations was researched during a sociological study conducted in Yaroslavl using questionnaire method in 2015 and 2018. 600 respondents were surveyed in each of these studies. It was determined that the economic behavior of home owners in apartment complexes is subject to the following strategies: pro-social ("cooperation", "conformal") and egotistical ("maximin", "competitive", "aggressive"). When comparing the results of both studies, an increase in the amount of proponents of pro-social strategies is apparent. The highlighted tendency corresponds to an increase in the amount of funds collected for major renovations. Pro-social strategies are preferred by residents with average or high financial status, who consider the quality of completed major renovations to be good. These people are convinced that other residents transfer monthly payments in full, and they trust the governmental institutions implementing the major renovation program.