The gambling policy of Hong Kong had been adopted for more than thirty years without any significant changes since the introducing of the Gambling Ordinance (Chapter 148) in accordance with the Betting Duty Ordinance (Chapter 108) in the 1970s. Under the ordinances, all gambling activities which were not played on a social occasion for non-business purpose were unlawful except some specifically permission offered by the Home Affairs Bureau (HAB). Among all these exemptions, horse race betting and the Mark Six Lottery were the most prevalent and influential gambling activities. Hong Kong Jockey Club was the sole operator to organize these two gambling activities under SHA’s supervision. Over the past decade, the Government has revised and implemented a series of new initiatives including the authorization and regulation of football betting, a reformation of duty system for horse race betting, and allowing additional local horse racedays and simulcast of international horse races for betting. The Government claims that a practical and pragmatic approach has been adopted in the formulation of gambling policy so that the balance of demand and views of opposition can be made. However, concern groups worry that such initiatives will encourage more people to take part in gambling activities, which may induce many social problems. This paper will attempt to adopt the analytical framework of Kenneth J. Meier’s model of policy process to evaluate the policy outcomes and social impact from the reformation of gambling policy in Hong Kong by illustrating the interaction between four clusters of political actors during three different phases of the policy process. / published_or_final_version / Politics and Public Administration / Master / Master of Public Administration

published_or_final_version / Politics and Public Administration / Master / Master of Public Administration

published_or_final_version / Politics and Public Administration / Master / Master of Public Administration

China’s investments in R&D are forecast to surpass those of the US in 2022, thereby attracting capital, innovation and a large number of returnee managers. In the past eight years alone, the number of returnees has increased five-fold, with the country’s high-tech parks, particularly Beijing’s Z-Park, also known as China’s Silicon Valley or the Silicon Valley of the East, proving considerable attractions. In this context, in which start-ups are vital for economic growth and for the further development of Chinese investments in leading-edge innovation, understanding how the significant cultural differences between returnee and local managers affect management control systems (MCS) is of key importance. Drawing on a survey of more than 200 companies and data from 435 one-to-one interviews, this study investigates the relationship between CEO characteristics, government financial support and MCS sophistication in the context of fast-growing high-tech enterprises in China’s Silicon Valley. The study develops an MCS sophistication index as an aggregate measure of six main factors (the importance of MCS to the firm, system structure, system operations, system completeness, frequency of use and the level of data aggregation), and measures MCS sophistication by 46 individual management control subsystems. The study predicts and verifies a positive relationship between CEO and firm international exposure and between CEO education and the level of MCS sophistication. It also predicts and verifies a positive relationship between government financial support and MCS sophistication in a context in which privately held and managed venture capital and banks provide such support. The study further analyses the interaction effect of government financial support and CEO characteristics on MCS sophistication. Its empirical findings suggest that, despite their cultural differences, neither local nor returnee managers feel the need for better MCS. Only when there is potential access to government funding do returnee managers have better tools to implement more sophisticated MCS than their local counterparts, thus underlining how international work experience provides Chinese managers with the tools, but not the mindset, for superior MCS. Most previous studies focus on listed companies in China, whereas this study constitutes one of the first to focus on start-ups using an extensive array of data. It also contributes to the definition of a more systematic MCS sophistication measure, thus allowing more complete analysis of MCS at the firm level. Improving upon previous studies, the research reported herein also encompasses a large set of CEO characteristics to analyse their interaction with government financial support, thereby contributing to a better understanding of MCS in a key area of China’s future development. / published_or_final_version / Economics and Finance / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

The rapid restructuring of Hong Kong's economy as a result of China's economic reform and open door policy since the late 70s, has led to major shifts in the demand and supply of industrial buildings. These shifts resulted in misallocation of land resources due to various institutional constraints. The land use policies in Hong Kong have been changing since the late 80s in response to such misallocation. This study investigates the impact of these policies on prices and rental yields of industrial properties in Hong Kong. In addition, the impact of economic restructuring on the determinants of industry propel1y prices is also examined. The open door policy has attracted many industrialists to move their production base across the border to take advantage of the low land and labour costs leaving their industrial buildings in Hong Kong underutilized. Due to statutory zoning and restrictions in the land leases, redeveloping these industrial buildings for other uses is difficult and costly due to multiple ownership and high modification premium. However lease enforcement actions on industrial buildings are difficult and ineffective. The owners of industrial buildings will weigh the costs against the benefits of non-conforming use and decide whether they will leave their industry properties underutilized, use them for non-conforming uses, apply for change of use and pay associated fees / premiums or proceed with a combination of all these. The empirical results in this study suggest that the benefits outweigh the costs of non-conforming uses of industrial buildings, in particular for office uses. This is evidenced by the fact that industrial property prices were affected not only by the demand for spaces for industrial production but also by other demand drivers not related to the industrial productions in Hong Kong. These demand drivers included volume of re-export and service sector employment. These are demand drivers given the term Non-Industrial-Production Demand Drivers (NIPDD) in this study. Service sector employment is an office demand driver and that office use in industrial buildings is usually the highest valued non-conforming use, therefore the correlation between service sector and industrial property prices is an indicator of the intensity of non-conforming uses. Since the late 80’s, various changes in government policies toward industrial land use have been implemented with the aim to rectify land resource misallocation. These policy changes can be classified into (1) Planning Control Relaxation: changes that involve relaxation of planning control on redevelopment or conversion of existing industrial properties to other uses, which may involve rezoning of some industrial areas and (2) Use Restriction Change: changes that permit more types of uses in existing industrial properties with or without paying a premium or fee. The empirical results in this study suggest that, other things being equal, Planning Control Relaxation has a positive impact on industrial property prices while Use Restriction Change have strengthened or weakened the impact of service sector employment on industrial property prices depending on the nature of the policy change. In addition, empirical analysis also showed that only the Planning Control Relaxation could reduce the rental yield of industrial property by reducing the risk premium. The effect of Use Restriction Change on risk premium and therefore rental yield was not significant. Last year (2010), the government introduced the Revitalization of Industrial Buildings Policy, which further removed restrictions on the use of industrial buildings for production purposes. It will take time to accumulate sufficient data to show the impact of this major policy on industrial property prices and rental yields. / published_or_final_version / Real Estate and Construction / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

Hong Kong, such an international metropolis, is well known for its free market with limited government interventions. In terms of the housing sector, the Hong Kong government always plays an important role to maintain the sustainable housing development. Thus, lots of housing policies were introduced in the past several decades. One of them was the Tenants Purchasing Scheme (TPS)released in 1998, which helped the tenants of Public Rental Housing to purchase their flats with a great discount. However, as being blamed by its adverse effect on the housing market, the TPS was suspended in 2002. Since the housing price kept growing in the last several years and the pursuit of home ownership became much more difficult, the feasibility of restarting TPS has been widely discussed. However, the Hong Kong government has clearly stated that it will not be restarted due to limited amount of PRH flats and the large number of applicants in the Waiting List (WL) of PRH. After series of investigation, it is assumed and proved that a new TPS can be an effective way to promote home ownership under Hong Kong’s special circumstance. If the payment of land premium is adjusted and more PRH tenants are able to purchase their flats, the conflict between housing supply and housing demand can be lessened. In this way, more citizens are to become property owners and the public housing recourses can be better used. / published_or_final_version / Urban Planning and Design / Master / Master of Science in Urban Planning

Air pollution is a major environmental problem that poses numerous health risks to those exposed to it. The adverse health effects are compounded in a place as dense as Hong Kong and further intensified due to its proximity to industrial and manufacturing plants across the border in Mainland China. Hong Kong has attempted to address the issue of air pollution through the enactment of legislation and policies such as the 1983 Air Pollution Control Ordinance and Air Quality Objectives, but so far these measures have not proven to be particularly effective. The new Air Quality Objectives are not as stringent as claimed by the Environmental Protection Department, the legal system is limited in enforcing air pollution legislation, and the Air Pollution Control Ordinance itself is flawed at best and requires urgent attention. An examination of the air pollution legislation and policies of overseas jurisdictions such as Ontario, California, and Tokyo show that these regions have made significant progress in addressing air pollution by prioritizing public health and utilizing a variety of measures to reduce air pollution. Ontario’s Environmental Protection Act gives the Ministry of the Environment numerous ways to deal with polluters and the Environmental Bill of Rights helps facilitate public participation in environmental decision-making by granting the public the right to apply for an investigation or review of existing legislation and policies. California’s Air Resources Board has been commended for enacting air pollution regulations that are more stringent than national standards and many states have adopted the Golden State’s standards as their own. In Japan, government, corporate, and public responsibilities for reducing air pollution and protecting the environmental are outlined in the Basic Environmental Law. Legislation providing compensation to victims of pollution as well as the use of a Total Mass Emissions Control system has helped the country achieve an extraordinary rate of compliance with national air quality standards. By studying, modifying and applying air pollution control legislation and policies being used in the three jurisdictions to its own Air Pollution Control Ordinance and air pollution control management as a whole, Hong Kong can be better prepared to protect public health and it’s environment in the future. / published_or_final_version / Environmental Management / Master / Master of Science in Environmental Management

Reclamation plays an important role in land supply of Hong Kong in various parts of territory to meet the demand for business, housing, infrastructural facilities, and ever increasing populations. Since 1852, Hong Kong has successfully expanded 6,824 hectares of the land since the first reclamation project, with about 6% of land in Hong Kong came from reclamation. Major reclamation projects in Hong Kong included Victoria Harbour Reclamation, Hong Kong International Airport Core Development Programme, and the present largest infrastructural facilities Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge. The government policy for reclamation in the colonial period was regarded as executive-led and lack of public participation. The situation has a significant change after the resumption of sovereignty by China in 1997. Public engagement, such as district forum has been the usual practice for the government to involve the public in reclamation and planning projects. Environmental issues brought by reclamation include the release of contaminants from dredging process, disruption of marine environment and ecosystem, polluting the surrounding water and air, and irreversible damage on the coastline and harbour. The study aims at (1)examining the reason for Hong Kong being so dependent on reclaiming land to increase the land supply for development; and the policy making and implementation process in the Hong Kong Government before and after 1997 in face of the changing political environment;(2) describing the major reclamation projects in the Hong Kong history; (3) studying the environmental impact brought by reclamation in Hong Kong and the related law and governing ordinances; and (4) suggesting alternative ways to increase the land supply in Hong Kong in the near future under the concept of sustainable development. It is concluded that reclamation will still be the easiest option adopted by the government to obtain land resources outside the Victoria Harbour. Community- based urban planning should be continued in land use planning policy for allowing people to engage in the process so that harmonious and sustainability can be achieved. / published_or_final_version / Environmental Management / Master / Master of Science in Environmental Management

Not available / text

Promoting economic diversity is important for states reliant on natural resources as the major source of economic development. Many of these states suffer from the Dutch disease leading to negative effects, which hinders economic diversification. One of the ways to reduce dependency on national resources is to encourage Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) inflows, which aids diversification by the transfer of technology, the creation of new employment opportunities, and the adoption of modern management practices. The Gulf Council Cooperation (GCC) countries recognised the necessity and benefits of FDI as an aid to economic diversification; it seems, however, that Kuwait is lagging behind in this endeavour. The government of Kuwait has engaged in a series of policy measures to induce Multinational Companies (MNCs) to invest in Kuwait, but the results, thus far, have been disappointing. The formal and informal institutions interact in a variety of ways. However, ineffective formal rules can create different outcomes; particularly, in the presence of strong informal institutions. In such a case, formal rules and procedures are not enforced systematically, that is, enabling actors who are involved in the policy process to ignore or violate them, which subsequently results in a failure to attract inward FDI to a host country. Thus, this study investigates the reasons behind this failure by examining the role of formal and informal institutions on FDI policy and on decisions on whether to grant FDI licences by means of using a New Institutional Economics (NIE) approach. The conceptual framework is used as a guide for an inquiry into the subject of study by constructing a category of intellectual scaffolding, which would provide a coherent structure (Schlager, 2007). The conceptual framework in this study systematically organises the investigation into how a MNC examines a potential investment location by dividing the host country assessments into four distinct 'stages'. When systematically conducted, the respective approach is grounded in the existing literature, which provides theories regarding the behaviour of MNCs in relation to their decision-making processes for considering locations for their FDI projects. The research questions derived from the conceptual framework are answered using a mixed methods research approach that uses three sets of data survey, semi-structured interviews, and secondary data. Firstly, the findings show that almost that all MNCs in the Gulf region have a limited awareness regarding investment opportunities in Kuwait, FDI laws and regulations. Secondly, the findings reveal a number of attractive and unattractive locations, and institutional factors of Kuwait. Finally, it is discovered that the high rejection rate of FDI applications is linked to unsuccessful policy implementation, which is a result of interaction of both formal and informal institutions in Kuwait. Subsequently, the results are utilised to make a number of recommendations for government policy makers, administrators, and for MNCs regarding how to improve FDI inflows into Kuwait. The results are also used to contribute towards the international business literature concerning the institution based view of FDI, and for government policy connected to attracting FDI.