Bøger udgivet af Hong Kong University Press

Politics and Government / Hong Kong

Is Hong Kong's approach to economic policy really as 'hands off' as we are led to believe? How are economic policies determined within Hong Kong's unique governance structure? Tony Latter draws on his deep knowledge of Hong Kong drawn from years in senior positions in the Hong Kong Monetary Authority and Government Secretariat to answer these two central questions about Hong Kong's economic management. He provides both general and specialist readers with an original and wide-ranging exploration of the workings of Hong Kong's economy and the way its economic policies are determined. Challenging Hong Kong's 'hands off' image, the author finds and critiques copious instances of government intervention over the years. He also examines how the government's much vaunted budgetary discipline is less 'laissez faire' than the numbers suggest. Overall, policy formation seems to lack a rigorous, consistent analytical framework. Officials often do not appreciate the distinction between violations of the 'hands off' principle that desirably improve the 'supply side', and violations which foster particular sectors and special interests, frequently influenced by business heavyweights with direct access to the territory's leadership. This book should be read by anyone interested in Hong Kong's economic policy and the processes that underlie it. It will appeal not only to general readers, but to business and professional people who have to function within this unique system of economic management, as well as to academics and researchers in the fields of economics, business or politics.

The success of China's program of economic reform and the rapid integration of China into the global economy has prompted this study on the degree of economic and financial integration between China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. It also includes complementary discussions on the interactions between China and several Pacific Rim economies, namely, Japan, Korea, Singapore, and the United States.

FUNCTIONAL CONSTITUENCIES A Unique Feature of the Hong Kong Legislative Council provides detailed information on the relevant law of functional constituencies, their place in the Basic Law and with respect to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, their history, a full list of functional constituencies and the size and make-up of their electorates including how certain major companies may control large numbers of votes. Another chapter reports on a pioneering study which polled individual functional constituency voters to build up the first comprehensive picture of such electors. Then the impacts of the functional constituency members on social policy-making and on economic policy are examined, and deleterious effects on economic efficiency of its entrenchment of vested interests argued. An enclosed CD provides a rich resource of additional data on the functional constituencies. In a concluding chapter, Christine Loh explores the constraints for reform of LegCo, the various reform proposals that have been made and suggests how the democratic legitimacy of the Hong Kong system could be enhanced within the current constraints.