Suchergebnisse

This paper focuses on the study of inheritance, Chinese family business and economic development in Hong Kong. In this study, it is found that equal inheritance can assist economic development by generating competition and capital. Equal division is a criterion for sibling comparison. Comparison generates stress and anxiety with each son trying to outdo the other. Competition is therefore galvanized. Furthermore, initial capital that is released from partition can motivate sons, who want to be free from subjugation, to start their own business. This is the origin of the self-employment mentality. Both competition and capital are crucial factors for economic development to take place. The strong desire of self-employment mentality also drives Chinese family business to develop its own type of structure: jia-zu ji-tuan [family-based consortium]. Different family members can be diversified into different businesses or professions. These businesses or professions may or may not relate to each other. However, they maintain a certain level of interconnection under the banner of the family [jia-zu] and can support each other during time of crises and difficulties. They can maintain their domination in the community from generation to generation.

This research note uses the rise of Aw Boon Haw's dynastic family businesses across Asia to illustrate Chinese migrant entrepreneurs' business development and dynamism. Although it is known that the management and operation of Chinese migrant family businesses do have disadvantages, there is substantial evidence that family control and network capital can facilitate their business endeavors. Through the case of the Aw family business, it was found that by using key strategies of family control and its network capital, even though their migrant background posed multi-layered disadvantages, the Aw family was able to rise from rags to riches in the medicine and newspaper businesses. Not only did their migrant background not restrict Aw family business growth, it fostered its expansion in the region and the world.

After re-pegging the Renminbi (RMB) from the US Dollar (USD) to a currency basket, the Hong Kong Dollar (HKD) is caught between the diverging Chinese and US economies. Disparity between the RMB and USD exchange rates and the HKD, and the disharmony of Chinese and US monetary policies towards Hong Kong have become increasingly acute. Hong Kong is at a crossroads. Should the HKD migrate from the dollar-zone to the renminbi-zone and realign with the national currency, and how? This paper analyses the mismatch and tries to answer the question.

Purpose
The paper aims to explore the road to independence of the less-fortunate women in early Hong Kong society and their means in passing of wealth after death. In the 1970s, about 400 Chinese wills from the 1840s to the 1940s were dug up on a construction site in Hong Kong. One-fourth of these were from women who had held a substantial amount of property. How they obtained this property intrigued us because, at that time, women were seen as subordinate to men and excluded from the labor market. Why they had wills led to further questions about Hong Kong society of that time and the role of women in it.


Design/methodology/approach
The analysis of this paper is based on archival data gathered from the Hong Kong Public Records Office. These data include 98 women's wills filed from the 1840s to the 1940s and a 500-page government investigation report on the prostitution industry released in 1879. The former recorded valuable information of brief testators' family and personal life history, amount of assets, and profolio of investment, etc. The latter included testimonials of brothel keepers and prostitutes and their life stories and the background of legalizing prostitution in early Hong Kong. Apart from basic quantitative analysis on women's marital status, number of properties, nature of wills and number of brothels, qualitative analysis is directed to review the testator's life of self-reliance, wealth accumulation and reasons of using wills for arranging wealth transmission after death.


Findings
In this paper, the authors found that because the colonial government declared prostitution legal, and only women could obtain employment by becoming prostitutes or brothel keepers, they earned their own livelihood, saved money and finally became independent. However, because these professions were not seen as "decent", and these women were excluded from the formal marriage system, intestacy could cause problems for them. Through their socio-business connections, they became familiar with the Western concept of testate inheritance. So, they tended to use wills – a legal document by which a person assigns someone to distribute his or her property according to his or her wishes after his or her death – to assign their property.


Research limitations/implications
Because only archival data are chosen for analysis, the research results may lack generalizability. Follow-up researches to examine whether the studied women acquired their wealth through their own work or simply as gifts from others are required.


Originality/value
This paper explores the understudied women's life and method of estate passing after death in the early Hong Kong society. It fills the academic gap of women's contribution to Hong Kong's success and enriches our understanding on the important factors that could attribute women's real independence.