This dissertation is an inductive analysis of the development of the banking industry in Hong Kong. It argues that the policy networking model is the most appropriate ideal type for understanding the configuration of power relations among interest groups behind the regulation of banking in colonial Hong Kong. It interprets the historical development of the banking system by looking at the configuration of power relations which bears on the public policy-making process. In more concrete terms, the result of the investigation shows that the regulatory framework of the banking system in colonial Hong Kong was not fair to all players. There was an interest-differentiated institutional framework, by which British banks got more privileges than other players. From the early days, the dominant British banks and the colonial state elite formed a policy network, under which both sides reaped mutual benefits. The banking policy network orchestrated the regulatory institutions and formulation of Government policy on banking in Hong Kong. These institutional factors, in turn, structured the interest distribution in the market, and consolidated/legitimated British banks' rent-seeking and privilege. However, the change of political environment in Hong Kong (i.e. the decolonization) triggered fundamental changes in the barking policy network, and, in turn, led to reconfiguration of the regulatory framework of banking. / Chan, Cheuk-Wah. / "August 2002." / Business Administration, Banking. / Economics, Finance. / Political Science, General. / Supervisor: Hsin-Chi Kuan. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2002. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 160-167). / Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Electronic reproduction. Ann Arbor, MI : ProQuest Information and Learning Company, [200-] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Abstracts in English and Chinese.

In the first chapter of my thesis, titled “Interventions in Credit Markets and Effects on Economic Activity: Evidence from Brazil,” I investigate the impact of the Brazilian government policy implemented in March 2012, which aimed at increasing credit supply through public banks. Using bank branch level data, I find that the policy successfully increased overall credit supply, as increased lending of public banks did not significantly offset private lending. On the other hand, there is no evidence of significant client-switching between private and public banks. However, the effects of the policy on economic activity were limited and even negligible. I conduct a series of robustness checks to further explore this puzzling result. I find evidence suggesting that increased lending led to significant increases in deposits, indicating that borrowers leveraged easily accessible credit to take loans and save funds for future use. In the second chapter, titled “Television Introduction and Agricultural Production,” I investigate how improved information affected agricultural activity in the U.S. Specifically, I argue that the introduction of television brings more comprehensible weather forecast information to farmers, improving their decision making process. Using data about television entry and county level farming production in a difference-in-differences methodology, I estimate economically significant effect of television introduction on crop yields.

published_or_final_version / abstract / toc / Politics and Public Administration / Master / Master of Philosophy