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Rethinking time-honoured business in Hong Kong through the lens of the community economy = 社區經濟視角中的香港老字號
Principal Investigator
Department
Grant Awarding Body
Research Grants Council
Grant Type
Faculty Development Scheme
Project Code
UGC/FDS15/H17/24
Amount Awarded
HK$544,941
Funding Year
2024-2025
Duration of the Project
18 months
Status
Ongoing
Abstract
The proposed project aims to understand Hong Kong’s time-honoured businesses, commonly known as laozihao (老字號, literally ‘old signboard’), through a newly developed theoretical framework of the community economy. Due to the long-lasting business-friendly environment, a considerable number of laozihao companies/shops whose life of business is 50 years old or above are still in business in Hong Kong today. In recent years, laozihao in Hong Kong have been studied from different perspectives. In general, publications in this area tend to understand this type of long-established business as either a reminder of old-time economic patterns or a survivor of intense competition in a capitalist market economy. In many cases, this “reminder + survivor” viewpoint highlights the business success of the laozihao but does not go into further detail. In contrast, the community economy theory reminds us to pay more attention to economic forms centred on the interdependence, livelihood, and wellbeing of people. As such, this new perspective suggests us to explore how and why some laozihao choose to stay and “live” together with local people, and how they have long been operated in a relatively just, ethical, and people-friendly way. We believe that the new theoretical framework and new data to be collected from laozihao in Hong Kong will enable us to discover the inherent relationship between laozihao business and the new search for people-friendly economies. In this regard, the proposed project will investigate and explore the decision-making and daily operations of laozihao , the interactions between laozihao and their stakeholders, and analyse the potential of laozihao to foster a new form of community economy for local people in Hong Kong.
First, this project will use the community economy theory to reframe and reconceptualise laozihao business in Hong Kong. Conventional perspectives place focus on the business success of laozihao but do not provide a better understanding of the social, ethical, and humane values of laozihao. The new concept of seeking for more just and people-friendly economies enables us to place more attention to the particular way laozihao organise activities for the wellbeing of their stakeholders.
Second, this project aims to document the details of organising and operating laozihao in Hong Kong as a type of business doing good for the local people and taking care of its stakeholders. Based on the collected data, we will further analyse the potential of viewing laozihao as a resource for developing a distinctive form of the community economy. Since the community economy emphasises the interdependence, livelihood, and wellbeing of ordinary people, detailed information about the interactions amongst employees, regular customers and others will be collected. We will then summarise the features of Hong Kong’s laozihao and explore how to align them with the key ideas of the community economy.
Third, this study aims to use the case study of laozihao business in Hong Kong to broaden the scope of the community economy theory. Many leading researchers in this area have called on activists to create a better society by building community economies through a variety of new enterprise development projects and experiments. The problem here is that the potential of some long-standing businesses for building a community economy has been neglected. Therefore, this proposed study will provide a new platform to explore how to broaden the scope of a community economy by taking some laozihao into account.
First, this project will use the community economy theory to reframe and reconceptualise laozihao business in Hong Kong. Conventional perspectives place focus on the business success of laozihao but do not provide a better understanding of the social, ethical, and humane values of laozihao. The new concept of seeking for more just and people-friendly economies enables us to place more attention to the particular way laozihao organise activities for the wellbeing of their stakeholders.
Second, this project aims to document the details of organising and operating laozihao in Hong Kong as a type of business doing good for the local people and taking care of its stakeholders. Based on the collected data, we will further analyse the potential of viewing laozihao as a resource for developing a distinctive form of the community economy. Since the community economy emphasises the interdependence, livelihood, and wellbeing of ordinary people, detailed information about the interactions amongst employees, regular customers and others will be collected. We will then summarise the features of Hong Kong’s laozihao and explore how to align them with the key ideas of the community economy.
Third, this study aims to use the case study of laozihao business in Hong Kong to broaden the scope of the community economy theory. Many leading researchers in this area have called on activists to create a better society by building community economies through a variety of new enterprise development projects and experiments. The problem here is that the potential of some long-standing businesses for building a community economy has been neglected. Therefore, this proposed study will provide a new platform to explore how to broaden the scope of a community economy by taking some laozihao into account.