Racial and ethnic differences in housing demand: An econometric investigation

This article empirically investigates the sources of housing demand differences between racial (black and white) and ethnic (Hispanic and non-Hispanic) groups. We estimate the tenure-adjusted housing demand equations from the 1989 American Housing Survey (AHS) national sample data and measure the effects of different sources for demand disparities in housing demand, but much less so in explaining racial differences in housing demand. Specifically, 98% (96%) of the housing demand differences between Hispanic and non-Hispanic owners (renters) is due to differences in group endowments. For the racial groups, 29% (51%) of the housing demand differences between black and white owners (renters) is attributable to differences in group endowments. The residual differences explain 71% and 49% of the black-white differentials for owners and renters, respectively. The residual components in our model capture the effect of institutional and structural factors intrinsic to the housing market (such as racial discrimination or residential segregation) and/or the influence of important omitted or harder-tomeasure variables correlated with race or ethnicity (such as wealth, employment history, credit history, and cultural differences in housing consumption).     

A hedonic price model for private properties in Hong Kong

A hedonic model is used to explore the effects of locational, structural, and neighborhood attributes on the price structure of private condominiums in Hong Kong. The regression results and the elasticities of housing attributes obtained from the Box-Cox analysis indicate that the valuation of a property is sensitive to changes in housing traits. Home buyers are rational and are willing (unwilling) to pay for desirable (undesirable) housing attributes and that the valuation of a property is market-driven in Hong Kong.     

Charity Accounting Rules and Annual Reports in Hong Kong: A Note

The perceived professionalism of charities is diminished when there is a great diversity in financial reporting practices. In addition, there may be additional regulatory pressure if present reporting practices continue. The purpose of this research was to gather information about the financial reporting practices for charitable organizations in Hong Kong. A brief review of international accounting practices for charities is also provided.     

香港保险法律制度的研究与思考

在香港保险业的发展历程中,良好的法律环境起到了相当重要的重要。本文通过分析香港保险法律制度的沿革及特征分析,比较两地保险业监管的差异性,思考借鉴香港保险法律制度的一些经验做法,为我国保险业的发展营造良好的法律环境。     

Market closure effects on return, volatility, and turnover patterns in the Hong Kong index futures market

This paper examines the market closure effect of the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong (SEHK) on the intraday behaviour of the index futures contract which continues to trade for 5–15 min after the close of the SEHK. The behaviour of the index futures market in Hong Kong is consistent with the contagion model of King and Wadhwani (1990) in that the close of the SEHK leads to an immediate downturn in the return, volatility, and turnover in the index futures market. The long period of nontrading before the morning also leads to a higher morning volatility and turnover.     

Return spread and liquidity: Evidence from Hong Kong ADRs

Fifteen Chinese H-shares listed on the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong are cross listed as ADRs on the NYSE. We empirically determine the role of security specific liquidity associated with those ADRs and their underlying H-shares on return spreads, differences between the returns on ADRs and their corresponding H-shares after controlling for ADRs and H-shares excess market returns and their respective price inverses denoting conditional betas. We use three proxies for liquidity, trading volume, turnover, and illiquidity (Amihud, 2002) and find that only trading volume and turnover are consistent determinants of return spread for the majority of Chinese ADRs with primary listing in Hong Kong Stock Exchange (SEHK). We use a switching regression model and find that the model parameter estimates are not stationary and change, often drastically between pre and post 2000 and 2003. Further tests using Bai Perron indicate return spreads data as non-stationary with multiple regime changes during the sample period. Further the causes of non-stationarity seem to be largely security specific and not driven by broad market swings in either market.     

Ownership structure and corporate voluntary disclosure in Hong Kong and Singapore

Drawing on prior empirical research based on disclosure behavior in developed western markets, this study examines the association of ownership structure with the voluntary disclosures of listed companies in the Asian settings of Hong Kong and Singapore. An analysis of annual reporting practices shows that the extent of outside ownership is positively associated with voluntary disclosures. In particular, the results also indicate that the level of information disclosure is likely to be less in “insider” or family-controlled companies, a significant feature of the Hong Kong and Singapore stock markets.     

Banks and the emergence of Hong Kong as an international financial center

Hong Kong is generally recognized as one of the premier international financial centers (IFCs) in the world. Its position has owed much to the opening of opportunity in the People's Republic of China since 1978, as well as the territory's long-standing reputation for transparency and efficiency in the provision of financial services. Less commonly recognized are the origins of Hong Kong's expertise in international banking and the prominent position that it commanded in the first few decades after the Second World War. This article seeks to clarify the development of Hong Kong as an international banking center in the first years after the War. The unique combination of laissez-faire government policy and a vibrant traditional local banking system catapulted Hong Kong to regional and global importance in the 1950s and 1960s and formed the basis for its later prominence as an IFC.     

香港作为全球性金融中心的比较优势与差距

本文从全球性金融中心的角度分析,指出香港的比较优势主要表现为在金融全球化格局中的区位优势、制度优势和金融业的比较优势。然而,与其他全球性金融中心相比,香港的差距也是明显的,突出表现为金融市场、金融机构的发展不平衡,存在众多的短板;金融业发展腹地比较狭小,总体规模仍然偏小。本文认为,香港如果能够有效推进与中国内地的经济融合,构建以香港为龙头、以深圳、广州为两翼的大珠三角金融中心圈,则香港有条件发展成为仅次于伦敦、纽约的全球性国际金融中心,成为亚太区特别是大中华地区主要的资产与财富管理中心、中国企业最重要的境外上市和投融资中心、全球主要的人民币离岸业务中心及亚洲人民币债券市场。     

Determinants of corporate social and environmental reporting in Hong Kong: a research note

The patterns and determinants of corporate social and environmental disclosure (CSED) in Hong Kong (HK) are examined by analysing 154 annual reports of 33 HK listed companies from 1993 to 1997. The research finds that industry difference has an impact on the amount, content theme and location of CSED. There is a positive correlation between company size and the level of CSED. Utility companies disclose more CSED than property and banking firms.     

The causal relationships between residential property prices and rentals in Hong Kong: 1982–1991

This study examines the causal relationships between sale price changes and rental rate changes in the Hong Kong real estate market. Three different hypotheses are put forth: 1) the demands in the two markets are substitutes, 2) prices and rentals are positively correlated; and 3) prices and rentals are not correlated because of market segmentation. Using quarterly data of sale prices and rental rates for the five categories of residential property from four different districts, causal relationships are not found in 29 cases out of 40. For the other 11 cases, we find that price changes lead rental rate changes. The lag period is found to be one quarter, and this shows that the two markets are efficient: only one quarterly lag is necessary to establish causality where it exists.     

香港人民币离岸中心发展的机遇与挑战

香港人民币离岸中心建设已成为高层共识,前景光明,并已取得初步成果。它与内地的金融改革是协同推进的,有助于巩固香港金融中心地位,促进东亚经贸繁荣。来自其他国际金融中心的竞争,以及与大陆金融市场在利率、汇率等核心金融指标上的差异,是香港人民币离岸中心发展的重要挑战。展望其发展,有如下建议:采取适当的财政货币手段化解离岸与在岸市场的利率和汇率差异;循序渐进、逐步完善香港人民币离岸市场的货币功能;打通人民币"回流"和"外循环"的通道,支持香港成为全球人民币资产的交易、清算和定价中心。     

人民币国际化与香港人民币离岸中心的发展展望

人民币国际化是中国经济发展的必然趋势。当前人民币国际化仍处于起步阶段,需要逐步实现各阶段性目标。人民币离岸市场的发展是人民币国际化进程的重要环节之一。香港作为国内外贸易的关键中介和桥梁,在发展人民币离岸市场方面有着得天独厚的优势。香港人民币离岸市场的发展,面临着各种机遇和挑战。在港金融机构,应该紧紧抓住这一机遇,勇于应对挑战,积极创新,提升服务能力以满足市场和客户的多层次需求,为香港人民币离岸中心的发展和人民币国际化的顺利推进贡献力量。     

The Impact on IPO Performance of More Stringent Listing Rules with a Pre-listing Earnings Requirement: Evidence from Hong Kong

Abstract:  This study considers the impact of a change to listing rules covering IPO performance in the Hong Kong stock market. The change, introduced in 1994, imposed a three-year prelisting earning requirement on new issues. The objective of this research is to screen out a subset of poor IPO performers. We find there is no significant difference in performance between IPOs before and after the regulatory change. We further divide our sample of IPOs registered before the regulatory change into two sub-samples: those that did and those that did not fulfil the earnings requirement. The result shows that there is no significant difference in performance between the two IPO sub-samples. This implies that the existence of pre-listing earnings does not guarantee good long-term IPO performance and the pre-listing earnings of new issues is not an effective screen for 'bad' IPO performers. This study further analyses the rationale for rule change in the context of recent developments in the Hong Kong stock market and concludes that the rule change is part of the reform programme aimed at introducing a second board market for small companies and at attracting more China-related listings to the main board.     

香港股市与内地股市的联动性研究

本文分3个阶段考察了香港回归以来,香港股市和内地股市之间的联动关系及其变化。协整分析表明,香港股市和内地股市之间存在长期的均衡关系,这种均衡关系在内地资本市场实行股权分置改革后更趋于稳定。Granger因果检验表明,香港回归以来香港股市和内地股市之间的引导关系在经历B股开放和股权分置改革后发生了变化。脉冲响应函数分析从动态的角度进一步验证了香港股市和内地股市之间的引导关系及其变化,并深入分析了单个变量的波动或冲击对其自身及另一变量的影响程度。     

Monthly Pattern and Portfolio Effect on Higher Moments of Stock Returns: Empirical Evidence from Hong Kong

Using a direct test, this paper studies the month-of-the-year effect on the higher moments of six industrial stock indices of the Hong Kong market. We also examine the portfolio effect on skewness and kurtosis across month of the year to see if such an anomaly exists. The empirical results support a weak month-of-the-year effect in higher moments of stock returns. Using a complete sample of all possible combinations for each portfolio size, we show that portfolio effect varies across month of the year for both skewness and kurtosis. In particular, our results show that diversification does not necessarily provide benefits to rational investors when the stock return distribution is non-normal, even though portfolio formation can reduce standard deviation. In June, August and October, diversification across industrial sectors results in a more negatively skewed and leptokurtic return distribution, which is not preferred by investors with risk-aversion. Two (one) possible explanations for the portfolio effect on skewness (kurtosis) are also provided. Our empirical results add new evidence to the existence of anomalies in the Hong Kong stock market. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Market Reactions to the Hong Kong Trading Suspensions: Mandatory versus Voluntary

This paper investigates the market reactions to regulator-initiated (mandatory) suspension and issuer-initiated (voluntary) suspension on the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong. It is found that there is substantial devaluation of the stocks during either suspension, and both the variance and trading volume are higher in the post-suspension period than in the pre-suspension period. However, the changes in value and variance are sensitive to the reason for the suspension. The evidence shows that mandatory suspensions are more effective than voluntary suspensions in disseminating information, although both suspensions may not effectively ease unusual volatility immediately.     

汇丰银行经营及治理研究

在开放经济中,国有商业银行改革发展战略的制定与实施需要更为广阔的观察视野和国际化的参考借鉴.本文梳理了汇丰银行发展沿革历程和1993～2002年共10年的经营及财务数据,分析了秉持"环球金融、地方智慧"经营方针的汇丰银行独特的全球化经营、资本运作、跨国并购的企业发展路径,研究了该行主动灵活的资产运作和结构调整策略,探讨了该行10年中资产、负债及收益结构变动的基本趋势,以及以股东利益为核心的财务结构安排,并进一步讨论了该行稳健、激励与约束相辅相成的治理和内控体系,旨在为锐意改革、争取卓越的国有商业银行提供参考.     

Market Structure and Return Volatility: Evidence from the Hong Kong Stock Market

There is no consensus about the cause for higher volatility at the market open than at the market close in the U.S. market. As an order–driven, nonspecialist market, the Hong Kong stock market provides a useful setting for an examination. If halt of trade were the major cause of higher open–to–open volatility, the open–to–open volatility in the Hong Kong market would be higher. However, this is not observed. The autocorrelation of the open–to–open return series also indicates that the temporary price deviation at the market opening is not significant. We view these findings as consistent with the specialist argument.     

Adjustable-rate mortgages,household mobility,and homeownership: A simulation study

A semi-Markov model is used to evaluate the effects of adjustable-rate mortgages on housing tenure decisions of recent movers and steady-state homeownership rates. Simulations were undertaken based on household data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics together with information on FRM-ARM rate spreads and Treasury yield curves. Results suggest that under most interest rate patterns that prevailed in the 1980s, ARMS had little effect on the relative cost of owning to renting and, as a result, had little effect on mover tenure choice and home sales. Moreover, despite some minor projected increase in the percentage of movers that choose to own when ARMs are available, ARM effects on steady-state owner-occupancy rates appear to be largely mitigated by an ARM-induced tilt toward a relatively more mobile steady-state pool of owner-occupiers.