Ing. Josef Klement, Ph.D.

Brief Introduction

Josef Klement

is an Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Economics, Prague University of Economics and Business, specializing in the economics of government intervention and its unintended consequences on individual incentives and the functioning of market mechanisms. In both his teaching and research, he applies the theories of the Austrian School of Economics and Public Choice theory to various aspects of the state and its representatives, with a particular focus on the housing market and its declining affordability in the Czech Republic.

He focuses on the factors contributing to declining housing affordability, including zoning and construction permitting processes, the NIMBY (Not In My Backyard) attitude, pressure from interest groups, monetary policy, as well as traditional socio-economic influences. In 2022, he led a research team examining the impact of the NIMBY phenomenon on residential development in major cities. The study confirmed that, in addition to a traditional aversion to risk, envy and perceptions of unfair treatment also play a significant role. The research findings were published in the prestigious journal European Planning Studies and received notable attention within the academic community.

Thanks to his extensive experience in project activities, during which he contributed to numerous development and other projects, Josef Klement has been able to observe the increasing administrative and other demands placed on universities and their staff in connection with these projects. In 2023, together with his colleague Jan Kozák, he collaborated on research focused on the bureaucratization of Czech universities. The study revealed how the rise in administrative workload drains time and energy that academics should be devoting to teaching and research. The results were published in Higher Education, one of the top 10% journals in its field (Q1 D1). Josef Klement and Jan Kozák also presented their findings in an invited lecture for the College for Social Sciences and Humanities in Essen, Germany, as well as at other academic forums.

In 2020, Josef Klement was awarded first place in the Dean’s Award Competition of the Faculty of Economics in the doctoral category for his paper titled “Building Control Regulation and Housing Affordability.” In 2022, he was recognized for his paper “The Impact of Spatial Regulation on the Supply of New Housing in the Czech Republic.” In the same year, he received the prestigious Josef Hlávka Award, which is granted for outstanding scientific and academic achievements.

Ongoing Projects, Studies, and Articles

KLEMENT, J. – LUKAVEC, M. The Impact of Zoning Regulations on Architectural Quality in Urban Settings: An Experimental Study. The traditional justification for zoning systems lies in the existence of externalities and the effort to mitigate these effects on third parties. However, the relationship between the strictness of spatial regulations and the “quality” of new buildings has yet to be empirically confirmed. This article seeks to address this gap through an experimental approach. This is a crucial issue, as strict zoning systems are costly and hinder more flexible urban development. The article is currently under preparation, with submission planned to the International Journal of Urban and Regional Research [IF and AIS 2021: 3.732 814; Q1D1].

List of Selected Articles and Publications

Flashbacks of the bad old days? The bureaucratization of Czech universities in the post-communist era	Causes of opposition to residential development: a survey-framing experiment from the Czech Republic	Vliv prostorové regulace na nabídku nového bydlení v České republice	The Impact of Fiscal Councils on Public Perception: A Survey Experiment in the Czech Republic	Economic Policy Recommendations during the Coronavirus Pandemic in the Czech Republic	Hospodářsko-politické konsekvence uplatňování administrativního monopolu při nakládání s obalovými odpady v České republice

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