Institutional reform in the provision of public services in Hong Kong: An efficiency evaluation

Richard M. WALKER*, Ling Hin LI

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Journal PublicationsJournal Article (refereed)peer-review

3 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Although efficiency theories have been adopted by governments around the world to improve public services, Hong Kong escaped their prescriptions until recently. In order to evaluate why such policies have been adopted, the authors develop a theory-led evaluation in which public choice theory and transaction-costs economics are synthesised to present a contingent efficiency framework. The study is focused upon the housing, planning, and lands arena, and includes analysis of policy documents and interviews with a range of civil servant, politicians, professional bodies, and private sector providers. The findings indicate that efficiency theories now explain institutional reform in Hong Kong - the variables of competition, size, asset specificity, monopoly, and change in public officials, together with the context within which public organisations in Hong Kong work, explain why such policies have now been pursued. © 2006 a Pion publication printed in Great Britain.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)597-614
Number of pages18
JournalEnvironment and Planning C: Government and Policy
Volume24
Issue number4
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Aug 2006
Externally publishedYes

Funding

The authors acknowledge the thoughts and valuable comments received from academics and policymakers who attended seminars at City University Hong Kong, September2002 and Cardiff University, November 2002. The research reported in this paper was supported by the British Academy's Sino - British Fellowship Trust. All errors remain the authors' responsibility.

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