Formal and Informal Cooperation in Hungarian Condominiums

Abstract

Human interaction breeds conflicts and unresolved problems, which fortunately provide food for social sciences. One particular field of research, however, the theory of collective action, is concerned with the question of how people behave and act in groups when pursuing their common goals, how collective action for a collective good, that is cooperation, can - or cannot - take place. Groups are understood here, not necessarily only as political or interest groups and organizations - originally assumed by the founders of group theories in economic sociology and political science, but any social groups of individuals whose members share a common interest. This kind of broadening the scope of groups allowed the author to apply the analytical devices of the theory of collective action in a particular case, never before examined in this way. Thus the author selected the Hungarian residential condominiums, which could be regarded as communities governing the commons on the one hand, and groups of individuals who are part of an organization with common interests and goals on the other. In both aspects, in order to pursue their common goals they have to act collectively and to reach them successfully they have to cooperate - either formally or informally - with each other. Based on theoretical and empirical findings, the author introduced and controlled for various external (e.g. condominium regulation, political entrepreneur) and internal factors (e.g. trust and social capital) which had an influence on condominium communities' cooperative behavior.