Kw Chau

Are our residential buildings healthy and safe? A survey in Hong Kong

Purpose – The most fundamental requirement of a habitable building is that its occupants can live in it healthily and safely. However, given the proliferation of building‐related accidents recently in Hong Kong, the extent to which our buildings have fulfilled this basic requirement is doubtful. For the benefit of the entire society, more public information on building quality is needed. Aims to address this issue.Design/methodology/approach – This paper extends the Ho et al. assessment model to evaluate the combined health and safety performance of residential buildings in Hong Kong. The model consists of a set of performance‐based objectives and can be translated into a hierarchy of parameters concerning the quality of building design, building management, and the surrounding environment. A total of 99 residential buildings in two urban areas, namely Mongkok and Tsimshatsui, were assessed with the help of a simple and user‐friendly performance indicator called the Building Quality Index (BQI).Findings –...

TECHNOLOGICAL PROGRESS AND THE PRODUCTIVE EFFICIENCY OF CONSTRUCTION FIRMS IN HONG KONG, 1981–2001

This study investigates the factors that affect the productive efficiency of construction firms in Hong Kong. Productive efficiency refers to a comparison of the volume of output to that of the resources used to produce the output. This comparison reflects the technological capability of the firm. Not only does such a capability vary across different firms at any point in time, it also changes over time due to technological progress. This study measures the productive efficiency of construction firms using a non-parametric technique — Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA). The results of this study suggest that: (1) economies of scale exist at the firm level; (2) firms that subcontract out more of their work have lower productive efficiency; and (3) more capital intensive firms tend to have lower productive efficiency, although these firms also have higher growth rates in productive efficiency over time. Over the period of observation, the average productive efficiency of all construction firms has increased at a noticeably decreasing rate, thereby confirming the catching-up hypothesis. The results of the study have important implications for practitioners and policymakers.

MARINE FISH PRODUCTION AND MARKETING FOR A CHINESE FOOD MARKET: A TRANSACTION COST PERSPECTIVE

ABSTRACT From a transaction cost perspective, this paper shows how the tradition of consuming marine fish by the majority of Hong Kongs Chinese citizens has shaped the means and modes of marketing seafood in Hong Kong. It is argued that consumer preferences stimulate aquaculture as a non-open access measure to bypass state fish marketing regulations. This has resulted in two outcomes. First, the transaction cost savings on metering output quantity and quality under private property have led not only to the collapse of the state monopoly on marine fish marketing, but also to the emergence of the (then new but) currently popular kind of Chinese seafood restaurant in Hong Kong. Second, consumer preferences for variety have shaped the form of coordination between the producer and the consumer. The advantage of market coordination has led to the emergence of a system of wholesaling and retailing rather than vertical integration. Issues concerning the emergence of Hong Kong as a regional live marine fish production and trading centre are discussed in terms of the contribution of local mariculture to sustainable development.