The prevalent practice of public participation in housing is taken as indicating a 'revealed public preference' for better housing for the poor. Assuming that sufficient external benefit exists to justify public housing, this paper attempts to derive analytically the best public housing...

This paper discusses the rationale behind rent control and analyses its effects using a capital theory framework in combination with traditional bid rent analysis. The experience in Hong Kong and Ontario is found to support the author's hypothesis that in addition to the reasons given by other...

The article presents and illuminates evidence, based on recent Hong Kong experience, indicating the existence of a "housing ladder effect" when housing prices increase or decrease. An increase of housing equity at the bottom of the ladder tends to translate into a trading up activity that will...

This paper provides an overview of the medical care system in the People's Republic of China, and assesses the impact of market reforms on the evolution of the medical care system. There is clear indication that China is moving towards a 'prepaid' system closely related to the HMO of the west....

This paper discusses alternative privatization schemes for public housing in light of economic efficiency, "policy efficiency," and equity. The analysis shows that removing restrictions to resale by the purchasers is the key to improving economic efficiency and that restricting resales to target...

This paper puts forward a public pension scheme that is fully funded for each cohort and covers everybody. The scheme is an application of the generational accounting concept. As compared to pay-as-you-go schemes, it is free of the vagaries of uncertain demographic changes. Because payouts for...

The authors find evidence that a public housing privatization program produced adverse effects on housing transactions and the economy in Hong Kong. A scheme announced in December 1997, offering tenants an opportunity to buy their units at deeply discounted prices, reduced public housing...