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The privatization of state transport operators has been driven by empirical discoveries in transport economic research of the constant or even diseconomies of scale of these operators. With reference to public records and official statistics, this paper is an initial attempt to examine the scale economies of and output relationship between major bus and ferry operators in Hong Kong during the period 1948-1998. The two franchised bus and two franchised ferry companies each experienced unique scale effects during different periods and correlated with each other in terms of production. The paper will also discuss the possible reasons for this phenomenon and policy concerns related to this finding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hong Kong’s economy has undergone a remarkable transformation over the past two decades. The rapid expansion of the service sector is a major outcome. Within the services sector, the finance, insurance, real estate (FIRE) and business services sub-sector is the most influential and also the major source of generating demand for office space in the economy. This paper examines how the rapid expansion of the FIRE and business service sub-sector influences new office construction. Using the Engle-Granger (1987) methodology for cointegration and error correction mechanism (ECM), the causal relationships between growth of sub-sectors of the services sector and the new office space construction were explored. The FIRE and business services sub-sector growth is shown to be cointegrated with new office space construction. The paper reports empirical findings based on a sample survey on location and quality of space. The study reveals that the growth of the FIRE and business service sector has influenced office space development in terms of location of space, per capita space and the type and quality space during 1981-2000. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

International land-use concepts are transformed to suit local circumstances. What is truly common after local adaptation becomes arguable. This paper examines application of a British land-use planning concept, green belt, in the ex-colonial city of Hong Kong. Through examining its local history and planning decisions for village housing development within such zones, this study reveals the ambiguity and flexibility of this land-use concept in conserving the natural landscape and open countryside. It highlights the conflicts and compromises of green belt planning policy in connection with countryside protection, local politics and development pressures. The conclusion is that the green belt zone coincides with its overseas counterpart in name only; its substance and implementation are drastically diverse across cities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines both theory and empirical evidence on the relationship between market concentration and profitability in Hong Kong's land market. Such a relationship has been the subject of substantial debate among academics and practitioners. The study highlights several distinctive characteristics of property development in Hong Kong, and particularly various competitive strategies. In Hong Kong, land can be acquired through public auction, redevelopment and lease modifications. Thus, those developers without a sufficient land bank tend to be very aggressive in land auction. However, in the land auction market, competition is keen and the land acquired expensive. This study found that the leading property developers do not take the largest share in the land auction market. We argue that the developers tend to locate themselves in a suitable market position or strategic domain, within which they sustain competitiveness by increasing their market share. We also found that the property developers undertaking a relatively high proportion of large-scale projects tend to have a higher proportion of profits from such projects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Examines modeling speculative activity in the Hong Kong residential property market. Relations between speculation and real estate prices; Finding that fluctuations in residential property prices cause fluctuations in housing speculation; Need to increase the supply of housing land and the supply of private residential property in order to curb speculative activities and stabilize property prices.