Property Management Company in Housing Institutions

Abstract

Property management company (PMC) plays an important role in housing institutions in some countries such as China. Through both theoretical analysis and empirical study in Chongqing, China, I analyze various configurations of PMC in housing institutions. In the case of private community, I argue that “to make or to buy” analogy is only applicable to HOA (Homeowners Association) alone vs. HOA hiring a PMC. The former requires expertise in property management, which cannot be easily obtained where multi-owned housing is the dominant housing type. The sources of efficiency of PMC also include competition among them that forms an efficient market in local governance. In general, it is safe to say that when the scope of services is narrow, PMC can play an important role in local governance.