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Modes of production in home maintenance: accounting for the choice between formality, off the books and self‐provisioning
Author(s) -
Adriaenssens Stef,
Hendrickx Jef
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
international journal of consumer studies
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.775
H-Index - 71
eISSN - 1470-6431
pISSN - 1470-6423
DOI - 10.1111/j.1470-6431.2009.00807.x
Subject(s) - formality , outsourcing , production (economics) , flemish , social capital , capital (architecture) , work (physics) , business , mode (computer interface) , provisioning , mode of production , microeconomics , economics , industrial organization , marketing , sociology , computer science , social science , engineering , political science , history , mechanical engineering , telecommunications , archaeology , law , operating system
Households depend on the existence of a home, and therefore, maintenance plays an important social and economic role. Formal outsourcing is often overestimated here and alternative modes, such as informal outsourcing and do‐it‐yourself (DIY), are overlooked. This paper estimates and accounts for the choice of one mode of production in Flemish households. First, the different modes of production are quantified according to two different methods. Further, an explanation of the choice made is constructed. The complexity of maintenance work has an impact as well as the dimensions of social and cultural capital. Factors such as dexterity, occupational acquaintance with maintenance work, social trust and social contacts play a role. Finally, a model of a sequence of decisions is tested. This ramification mechanism shows that the primary choice is formal commissioning or not, inspired by technical complexity. The second choice between off‐the‐books outsourcing and DIY is influenced by the capital resources of the households.