Suchergebnisse

Hong Kong suffered economically and socially from the Asian financial crisis. Due to the speculative attack on the Hong Kong dollar, which is pegged to the US dollar, businesses suffered from tight liquidity and high interest rates. The stock market as well as the property market plunged by more than 40 percent in less than nine months. Tourism and other consumption-related sectors such as retail and restaurants also suffered as a result of the depreciation of currencies in Japan and other Southeast Asian countries. Poor business performance led to mass lay-offs and retrenchment. However, the local workers rather than the guest workers were more adversely affected by the crisis. In spite of the guest workers' apparent marginality in the labor market, there have been hardly any reports of en masse retrenchment and repatriation of these workers. However, the chances of guest workers to obtain employment in Hong Kong may be on the downturn.

Public sector management in Hong Kong is facing major challenges as the territory has undergone substantial changes in the past four decades. A small government, following a policy of nonintervention in a colonial setting, has resulted in a highly structured system whereby it is more convenient to plan and coordinate administrative activities. This centralised structure and the prevailing role culture have combined to facilitate the implementation and institutionalisation of changes in the public service. Considering the experience and activities of selected government departments, it appears that there is a move toward more accountability and a consumer‐oriented approach to public sector management in Hong Kong. The new initiatives appear to be consistent with the needs and mood of the society and seem likely to persist in the future, despite an element of uncertainty stemming from the reversal of sovereignty to the People's Republic of China.