The politics of structural reform in Hong Kong: an institutional perspective

Abstract

Hong Kong is an excellent case for illustrating how historical and institutional contexts affect public-sector reform. The formulation and implementation of structural reform programs have been heavily influenced by the Sino-British agreement in 1984 to revert the sovereignty of Hong Kong to the People's Republic of China (PRC) in 1997. In using Hong Kong to illustrate the value of institutional analysis in understanding the polictics of structural reform, this article presents some propositions relating institutional factors to political processes surrounding structural reform. It discusses how institutional factors in the pre-1982 period shaped the choice of governance structures in Hong Kong. It examines how changes in institutional settings and increased political uncertainty since 1982 have affected the direction and process of political and administrative restructuring. It discusses the implications of the case for understanding the politics of structural reform. -from Authors