A discursive institutional analysis of the occurrence of corrupt transactions in the Hong Kong public housing system (HKPHS) : a case study approach using an adapted dynamic-critical institutional analysis and development framework (ADC-IAD)

Abstract

This thesis follows the tradition of critical institutionalism and adapts a combined dynamic-critical iterations of the Institutional Analysis and Development Framework (ADC-IAD) primarily as an analytical tool to shed light on the emergence of a network of positive transaction cost situations, as in corrupt exchanges— a totally neglected lacuna in the extant literature on public housing in Hong Kong. The adapted ADC-IAD analytical framework has two innovations. First, it highlights the temporal and non-synchronic notions to the structure-agency nexus which suggest a recurring emergence of social exchanges drawn upon in an on- going process of reproduction and transformation of social systems and institutions. Second, it frames the emergence and evolution of institutions through dynamic process of recursive implication of institutions-transactions-outcomes (ITO). The ADC-IAD framework is then demonstrated with the help of a two- stage comprehensive case study approach to analyze the ITO linkage amidst the recursive emergence of corrupt exchanges in the context of the Hong Kong Public Housing System (HKPHS Case). The first stage discusses the institutional bricolage that conditioned the governance structure of the HKPHS over the years amidst the occurrence of corrupt transactions. More specifically, it comprises the identification of an inventory of relevant contextual and institutional factors via a historical-critical review of the HKPHS Case. More specifically, the various resources, actors, state rules and other relational factors are identified occurring at different reform periods within the HKPHS and amidst the recursive emergence of a network of positive transaction cost situations, i.e., corruption exchanges. The second stage focuses on the evaluation of the corruption exchanges and their consequent outcomes in the HKPHS Case. More specifically, this comprises the discursive case study analysis of the occurrences and the impact of various corruption scandals in the HKPHS. Lastly, the case studies were developed primarily using publicly available data from selected court or prosecution cases via triangulation as well as from various government reports and newspaper clippings. All in all, this thesis proposes a neo-institutional approach to interpret and evaluate the occurrence of corruption in the HKPHS Case and discusses the implications of the findings. Keywords: Critical institutional analysis, corruption transactions, public housing provision, Hong Kong public housing sector