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75.6% of land comprising Hong Kong remains undeveloped according to the special administrative region's planning department. In turn, Hong Kong's constricted real estate, now estimated to be the world's costliest, has created eye-popping living arrangements historically and contemporarily. Denizens' colorful reputation and imagination for flouting city ordinances, zoning laws, and spatial management stand emblematic of tenacious self-sufficiency and a free-spirited brand of runaway capitalist initiative. Why is this conspicuous trademark of Hong Kong's societal fabric very much alive in the 21st Century? Why does this matter in a rapidly urbanizing world witnessing the ascension of mega-urban centers alongside ever-widening socioeconomic chasms? This paper intends to illuminate the peculiar origins and longevity of the KowloonWalled City, an urban monolith of notoriety and autonomy that blossomed in a semi-legal grey zone unencumbered under British protectorate rule for nearly a century. Parallels will connect the linear trajectory between Kowloon's hardnosed living to today's comparable Chungking Mansions and the hundreds of thousands of cage homes appearing in all corners of the city. This paper aims to answer why these residential paradoxes continue to function with efficiency and relevancy, posing solutions for indigent housing while exacerbating the stigma of social and economic ostracism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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The aim of this paper is to investigate the contagion across real estate markets of four countries: Hong Kong, China, U.S. and U.K., during the financial tsunami in 2008. We use the Forbes-Rigobon test, the coskewness test and the cokurtosis test. We propose a new cokurtosis test constructed by extending the method of constructing the coskewness test to further higher order moments. It can show additional channels of contagion that other tests fail to show, and hence can provide more information on the direction of contagion, and reflect a more complete picture of the contagion pattern. The coskewness and cokurtosis tests show that contagion exists between the four countries, and the contagion effect is stronger between Hong Kong and China, and between U.S. and U.K. This provides clues for investors on how to diversify their investment to reduce their risk. This paper bridges the gap that previous works on contagion across real estate markets give mixed results, and gives a first insight into the contagion pattern of global real estate markets during the financial tsunami. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

By the nineteenth century, with the advance of British colonial activities, British corporate laws had been transplanted to maritime Asia with varying degrees of vigour. In British Hong Kong, these laws often clashed with native customs. Through a reconstruction of the legal disputes found in urban Hong Kong, this paper discusses how British and Chinese business traditions interacted with each other during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Before assessing the historical implications and consequences of these legal decisions, this paper will also explore whether the Chinese institution of tong is compatible with British law in urban Hong Kong. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents an empirical analysis of implementation of electronic data interchange (EDI) in Hong Kong, China. EDI is a term used to describe the technology by which business documents such as orders, invoices, shipping contracts, and so on are transmitted electronically. It is estimated that EDI is growing at a rate of 200 per cent per annum, with the Great Britain accounting for approximately 70 per cent of all European activity. As organizations gain greater experience with EDI, the more far-sighted users have realized that significant benefits are to be gained through the integration of related functions across organizational boundaries. It is not the replacement of paper-based communications by electronic media that provides the major strategic advantages of EDI. Rather, it is the associated changes in operation within and between organizations made possible by EDI link. This focus on achieving integration across organizational functions and between organizations is what distinguishes EDI from other forms of electronic transaction and is what makes it an effective strategic application at organizational, national and international levels.

The 156 years of British colonial rule (1842-1997) finally ended when the sovereignty over Hong Kong was returned to China in 1997. Since 1980, many new policies had been introduced in Hong Kong for the purpose of smoothing the process of handover. Some of the policies were introduced out of consideration for new political circumstances. Others were launched with the hidden agenda of erasing colonial history. The implementation of Chinese as an official medium of communication in the judicial system reflects the former, whereas the change of the Chinese titles of government officials reflects the latter. Many translation issues were involved in these so-called localization policies. In this regard, the change of Chinese titles for government officials in Hong Kong is a subject worthy of study. The Chinese titles of major government officials in colonial Hong Kong were actually taken over from those of Imperial China. Therefore, they are marks of Chinese imperial history rather than British colonial history. However, for the apparent propose of erasing colonial history, these proper Chinese titles were changed to newly coined Chinese titles that are not found in Chinese history. The aim of this paper is to use the issue of translation as an example to demonstrate that in the decolonization process of Hong Kong, as in that of many other colonized countries which intended to break with their colonial past, many decolonizing policies were actually self-defeating in purpose. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The term 'obscenity' has no universal definition. It is often ill -defined, subjective and highly dependent on the culture of the communities in question and between communities. Nevertheless, the aim of the law on obscenity is to prevent publication and distribution of materials, which are potentially harmful to its readers, viewers and audience. The purpose of this paper is three fold. Firstly, it briefly considers the law on obscenity in the United Kingdom, and in the United States. Secondly, the paper discusses and evaluates the law relating to obscenity in Hong Kong in the light of the recent publication and distribution of materials which could be argued to fall within the realm of obscenity. Finally, it considers whether the law on obscenity would ever be able to fit into an "acceptable community standard". [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper briefly reviews the change in the political status of Hong Kong from a British colony to a Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China, sets out the international rights and obligations of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) as evidence of its international legal personality, and discusses whether the HKSAR can be treated as a subject of international law. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper looks at patterns of language use in Hong Kong around the time of the end of colonial rule by Britain in 1997 to identify some of the issues arising in that context from language contact and language shift. Two different models used in the study of multilingualism or bilingualism will be discussed -- language use reflecting function or status (diglossia) and overlapping language forms reflecting linguistic constraints (code-switching). The changes in language use and form in Hong Kong are seen to be more dynamic than traditional models of diglossia or code-switching suggest, which may partly indicate the special history of language contact in Hong Kong, but also may indicate the need for more flexible models of multilingualism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we study the cooperative strategies between two firms in an overseas country. In Part 1, we examine the circumstances under which foreign firms would cooperate with another foreign firm in a third country market. Drawing upon existing literature, we develop and test a set of hypotheses using a longitudinal data set from China. The types of cooperative arrangements include all the major modes of operation. In Part 2, we further investigate what types of operation and level of control exist among the cooperative arrangements between two foreign firms in China. We used a sample of 483 cooperative arrangements between two firms from Hong Kong, the U.S., Japan, Germany, or Britain. This study offers interesting insight as to why foreign firms form cooperative arrangements in an overseas country and what types of cooperative arrangements these firms prefer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses how since 1970, the colonial government in Hong Kong, China exercised its wide legal powers over trade union organization and activities in a benevolent manner. In Hong Kong, government regulation of trade union activities is longstanding, based on the Trade Unions Ordinance (TUO) which was originally introduced in 1948 and underwent major revisions in 1961 and 1971. TUO represents a modified "colonial" version of Great Britain labor law as it was at that time. Thus, while the TUO followed British labor law tradition by providing few rights for trade unions to organize and employees to strike, it broke sharply with the then-Great Britain principle of non-interference in trade union internal affairs. The first important aspect of Great Britain trade unions' experience of adversity with relevance for Hong Kong trade unions is the importance of the independence of the judiciary. This is not so much a survival lesson drawn from Great Britain trade unions' actions and strategies but rather a reminder that the power to interpret the legal controls a government chooses to impose on trade unions lies with the judiciary. The future for Hong Kong is uncertain. The trade unions' role in the maintenance of Hong Kong's albeit limited democracy may become a critical one after the transfer of sovereignty.

The article offers information on the administrative efficiency of the Hong Kong public administration and analyzes its influence over the efficiency and legality of the government decision-making. It analyzes the role of the Hong Kong Legislative Council in regulating the economic structure of the Hong Kong under its administrative law. It mentions that the sovereignty is transferred from the Great Britain to the People's Republic of China expansion of the administrative state.

The article discusses the Animal Protection Law of China. It examines the animal cruelty defined by the courts in Great Britain, Australia and Hong Kong, China and reflects the problems which rely on anti-cruelty laws for protecting animals from harm. It offers information that the China's draft law has abandoned the inclusion of a duty of care towards animals and prohibits only overt animal cruelty, and emphasizes to include statutory duty of care for effective protection of animals in China.

The article discusses debates about Chinese female bondservants ("mui-tsai" or "meizai") in late 19th-century Hong Kong and how they reflect the changing politics and culture of the British colony. Competing views among colonial administrators from Great Britain are discussed, with some seeing this form of involuntary domestic servitude as a violation of the British ban on slavery, and others seeing it as an outdated custom that would fade with the modernization of China. Also discussed is the rise of Chinese elites with enough power to defend the "mui-tsai" system as a respected Chinese custom.

Allinson and Hayes (1996) in the reporting of a new measure, the Cognitive Style Index, made a plea for replication and extension of their work. Using a sample of over one thousand subjects the present study investigated the CSI's construct and concurrent validity. A maximum likelihood factor analysis obtained broadly similar results to those of Allinson and Hayes. No relationship was observed between the CSI and an alternative measure of style (the Cognitive Styles Analysis). It is argued that cognitive style is independent of gender but that style is related to job level (lower scores were associated with increased seniority). Some evidence was presented which suggests there may be differences in cognitive style between Hong Kong and UK small business owner managers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reviews the legacy of British administration in Hong Kong, which closed on June 30, 1997. Importance of the preservation of the legal system to most Hong Kong people; How the court proceedings in civil and criminal litigations were held; Concern surrounding the start and progress in English and Chinese codification; Details on the British legal system; Illustration of cases which depicts the perils and predicaments of the Hong Kong legal system; Conclusions reached.

Focuses on various British citizenship for Hong Kong nationals. Chinese takeover of Hong Kong in 1997; British nationality laws; Problems of the various kinds of British citizenship; British Dependent Territories Citizenship.

Examines Great Britain's attitude towards Hong Kong and the rise of Chinese communism. British Empire, China and Hong Kong in the post war world; Cold war politics and Britain's China and Hong kong policies; Impact of the Korean War on the British attitude towards China and Hong Kong; Sino-British declaration in Hong Kong.