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Why Do They Not Comply with the Law? An Empirical Study on the Foreign domestic helpers’ Illegal Hawking in Hong Kong = 為什麼她們不守法? 香港外籍家庭傭工非法街頭販賣的實證研究
Principal Investigator
Department
Grant Awarding Body
Research Grants Council
Grant Type
Faculty Development Scheme
Project Code
UGC/FDS15/H06/25
Amount Awarded
HK$429,867
Funding Year
2025
Duration of the Project
24 months
Status
Ongoing
Abstract
In Hong Kong, an international financial centre, there are challenges in regulating the problem of illegal hawking by foreign domestic helpers (FDHs) in public areas such as footbridges, parks, gardens, and streets every Sunday. Both citizens and lawmakers are calling on the government to address the issue of unauthorised selling of cooked food and other goods and services in the locations where FDHs frequently gather. FDHs’ hawking activities are illegal because they have violated hawking regulations and breached a condition of stay. To control hawking activities, the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department and other legal authorities have regularly inspected hawker stalls and regulated the operation of itinerant hawkers when they were found hawking in the streets. Whenever necessary, they took enforcement action to address any irregularities. Hawker control and law enforcement measures, however, have not deterred FDHs. Illegal hawking activities remain common at the places where the FDHs often gather. An understanding of why people comply or do not comply with the law is thus of interest to legal authorities to evaluate the effectiveness of law enforcement and social control approaches. Drawing on a theoretical framework of legal compliance (e.g., Tyler 1990; Tankebe 2009; Wenzel 2004; Kagan & Scholz 1980; Kagan et al 2011; Gunningham et al 2003; Thornton et al 2005, 2009; Nielsen & Parker 2012) and mixed research methods (including surveys, in-depth interviews, and comparative law analysis), the project aims to understand why FDHs choose to comply or disobey these laws. It will answer four research questions: (1) Do FDHs comply with the law and the enforcement in Hong Kong? In other words, what are FDHs’ coping and evading strategies in tackling legal enforcement and what are the variations of the legal compliance decisions? (2) How do various factors (i.e., perceived deterrence, legal knowledge, cost-benefit calculations, perceived legitimacy, social norms, and social identity) shape FDHs’ various decision-making on legal compliance? (3) How do institutional contexts, such as immigration policies, employment rights protection status and other supportive mechanisms (Non-Governmental Organizations, Consulates and activists), contribute to the FDHs’ legal compliance decision-making in Hong Kong? And (4) What are the implications for improving legal compliance and law enforcement in the field of hawking control in Hong Kong? This project will generate rich empirical findings to provide a comprehensive and deep understanding of the effectiveness and limitations of hawking enforcement by the legal authorities of Hong Kong. This study on understanding legal evasions by migrant workers will provide benefits to various legal authorities in Hong Kong. It will also bring a unique insight of migrant workers into the theory of legal compliance.