Thesis (M.P.A.)--University of Hong Kong, 1997. / Includes bibliographical references. Also available in print.

Thesis (M.S.W.)--University of Hong Kong, 1983. / Also available in print.

Thesis (M.Soc.Sc.)--University of Hong Kong, 1989. / Also available in print.

Background: It is widely recommended that children engage in at least 60 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) per day for health, well-being and development benefits. However, few Hong Kong children are physically active. Environmental factors unique to Hong Kong, such as dense population, highly urbanized, and high level of outdoor air pollution, suggest need to develop indoor PA programs. Active video games (AVGs) may provide an innovative approach to designing such indoor programs. Aim: This thesis sought to identify opportunities for interventions using AVGs to promote PA among children, and to develop and evaluate the effect of an AVG intervention on PA among Hong Kong Chinese children. We also intended to clarify the mechanisms of the intervention. Methods: Three studies were undertaken for the aim of the thesis. First, a systematic review was conducted to evaluate the effects of AVGs on PA and PA-related outcomes (i.e. psychosocial factors and fitness) among healthy children. Secondly, a validation study was conducted that examined the validity and reliability of three scales used to measure PA-related self-efficacy, social support, and enjoyment among Hong Kong Chinese children aged 9-12 years (n=273). Third, a quasi-experimental study was conducted that examined the effects of a school-based AVG intervention on PA, sedentary time, body composition, and psychosocial factors (self-efficacy, social support, and enjoyment) among Hong Kong children aged 9-12 years (n=87). Moderation and mediation effects of psychosocial factors on PA were also tested in the study. Results: In the first study, fifty-four articles were identified in the review. AVG led to light to moderate intensity PA among children. No effect was identified of AVG on PA in the home setting. Structured AVG play (i.e. AVG play of participants organized by teachers or researchers) may improve PA. However, none of the previous school-based AVG interventions have measured habitual PA objectively. In the second study, confirmatory factor analyses supported the one-factor structure of the tested scales. All of the psychosocial factors (self-efficacy, social support from family, social support from friends, and enjoyment) were significantly (p<0.01) associated with self-reported PA (r ranged from 0.23-0.40). All of the scales suggested acceptable internal consistency (Cronbach’s alpha>0.7) and test-retest reliability (intraclass correlation coefficient>0.7). The third study found that an AVG intervention delivered during after-school hours, approximately twice a week, significantly (p<0.05) increased total PA (counts per minute) and reduced sedentary behavior at week 8. However, this treatment effect was not maintained at 15 weeks when the frequency of AVG play decreased to approximately once a week during weeks 9-15. No significant differences were noted on body mass index z score and percentage body fat, and PA related psychosocial factors. The measured psychosocial factors did not act as mediators or moderators in this intervention. Discussion: AVGs may be useful to promote PA of children when it is structured. Future interventions should consider the frequency of AVG play in order to increase PA. AVG play should occur at least twice a week based on current research. Other components may be necessary to enhance the treatment effects of AVG interventions on PA among children.

This dissertation consists of two essays. The first essay focuses on developing a quantitative theory for a small open economy dynamic stochastic general equilibrium (DSGE) model with a housing sector allowing for both contemporaneous and news shocks. The second essay is an empirical study on the macroeconomic forecasting using both structural and non-structural models. In the first essay, we develop a DSGE model with a housing sector, which incorporates both contemporaneous and news shocks to domestic and external fundamentals, to explore the kind of and the extent to which different shocks to economic fundamentals matter for driving housing market dynamics in a small open economy. The model is estimated by the Bayesian method, using data from Hong Kong. The quantitative results show that external shocks and news shocks play a significant role in this market. Contemporaneous shock to foreign housing preference, contemporaneous shock to terms of trade, and news shocks to technology in the consumption goods sector explain one-third each of the variance of housing price. Terms of trade contemporaneous shock and consumption technology news shocks also contribute 36% and 59%, respectively, to the variance in housing investment. The simulation results enable policy makers to identify the key driving forces behind the housing market dynamics and the interaction between housing market and the macroeconomy in Hong Kong. In the second essay, we compare the forecasting performance between structural and non-structural models for a small open economy. The structural model refers to the small open economy DSGE model with the housing sector in the first essay. In addition, we examine various non-structural models including both Bayesian and classical time-series methods in our forecasting exercises. We also include the information from a large-scale quarterly data series in some models using two approaches to capture the influence of fundamentals: extracting common factors by principal component analysis in a dynamic factor model (DFM), factor-augmented vector autoregression (FAVAR), and Bayesian FAVAR (BFAVAR) or Bayesian shrinkage in a large-scale vector autoregression (BVAR). In this study, we forecast five key macroeconomic variables, namely, output, consumption, employment, housing price inflation, and CPI-based inflation using quarterly data. The results, based on mean absolute error (MAE) and root mean squared error (RMSE) of one to eight quarters ahead out-of-sample forecasts, indicate that the non-structural models outperform the structural model for all variables of interest across all horizons. Among the non-structural models, small-scale BVAR performs better with short forecasting horizons, although DFM shows a similar predictive ability. As the forecasting horizon grows, DFM tends to improve over other models and is better suited in forecasting key macroeconomic variables at longer horizons.

This study evaluates Hong Kong's soft power through investigating the relations between the city's paradiplomatic ambits and performance and critically reflects on how the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) to further develop its presence in international stage and its identity as an active non-sovereign international actor. This study also enriches the literature of paradiplomacy and soft power of non-sovereign actors since the soft power analysis is still limited to state-centric research. This research also explores new angles to deal with Hong Kong-China relations by highlighting how the paradiplomacy and the soft power of Hong Kong can create space and flexibility for the city's international engagement. A theoretical framework which incorporates new institutionalism and normative theory to explain the interplay of paradiplomacy and soft power is proposed and tested. This study adopts multi-pronged method to investigate Hong Kong's soft power and its leaders' capabilities in upholding the city's international profile under "One Country, Two Systems". Through studying the international indexes, surveys of public opinion, official documents like Hong Kong Policy Addresses and conducting in-depth interviews, this study delineates and evaluates the soft power capacities within paradiplomatic ambits of the city. The key findings of the research indicate the HKSAR government has had a very restrictive understanding of the soft power for the city. In particular, the study proves that both institutions and values of Hong Kong are crucial for boosting the city's soft power. In contrast to the conventional system, the institutions of the HKSAR have limited the fostering of values of Hong Kong, but also the development of the city's soft power. This study shows that the tensions between the government and civil society have weakened some of the potential soft power resources. Moreover, the prevailing policy focus on strengthening the city's financial and economic status with respect to China's rise to power has not done justice to other stakeholders such as the film industry and the civil society who could have made considerable impacts on enriching and enhancing Hong Kong's global attractiveness. The paradiplomatic power of the HKSAR government has not been persistently pursued in the policy implementations. As the HKSAR government claimed it is committed to upholding the city's international profile and to promote its soft power globally, this study intends to make an original contribution to our understanding of the relations of the city's soft power, paradiplomacy and policy implementations.

Thesis (M. Hous. M.)--University of Hong Kong, 1998. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 59-63).

Thesis (M.P.A.)--University of Hong Kong, 1996. / Includes bibliographical references. Also available in print.

Thesis (M.B.A.)--University of Hong Kong, 1997. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.P.A.)--University of Hong Kong, 1998. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves i-vi). Also available in print.