By using a modified Cheung model of price control, we show that discriminatory zoning is economically an inefficient protectionist alternative to nondiscriminatory zoning. The exclusionary zoning on the Peak of Hong Kong arose in order to give Europeans a housing area free from economic price competition with the Chinese. Documentary evidence is adduced to support this view of the law. Such zoning collapsed after the Second World War when European owners needed to realize their capital. Land-transaction records of certain sites on the Peak are analysed to support this interpretation. Without claiming to offer an exclusive explanation as to the formation of discriminatory law, we advance the case that discrimination is economically inefficient and will be abolished once the favoured group ceases to benefit from its continuation.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
BeckerG S, 1971The Economics of Discrimination (University of Chicago Press, Chicago, IL)
2.
BeckerG S, 1986, “Pretoria's part in the black economic struggle”Business Week 3 November, page 16
3.
Betty, 1905Intercepted Letters: A Mild Satire on Hong Kong Society (Kelly and Walsh, Hong Kong) [‘Betty’ was the pseudonym of the author]
4.
BirdI, 1883The Golden Chersonese and the Way Thither (John Murray, London)
5.
BragaJ V, 1946, “Anti-British feeling in China”, memorandum to the British Foreign Secretary, 25 June, index number CO129/595/1, Public Record Office, Kew, Richmond, Surrey TW9 4DU
6.
BristowR, 1984Land-use Planning in Hong Kong: History, Policies and Procedures (Oxford University Press, Hong Kong)
7.
CameronN, 1991An Illustrated History of Hong Kong (Oxford University Press, Hong Kong)
8.
CheungS N S, 1974, “A theory of price control”Journal of Law and Economics1753–71
9.
CheungS N S, 1975, “Roofs or stars: the stated intent of a rents ordinance”Economic Inquiry131–21
10.
CheungS N S, 1982Will China go ‘Capitalist’? An Economic Analysis of Property Rights and Institutional Change (Institute of Economic Affairs, London)
11.
CheungS N S, 1998, “Deng Xiaoping's great transformation”Contemporary Economic Policy16125–135
12.
DubowS, 1989Racial Segregation and the Origins of Apartheid in South Africa 1919–36 (Macmillan, London)
13.
DuncanD OLibersonS, 1959, “Ethnic segregation and assimilation”American Journal of Sociology64364–374
14.
EndacottG B, 1964Government and People in Hong Kong: 1841 – 1962 (Hong Kong University Press, Hong Kong)
15.
EndacottG B, 1973A History of Hong Kong2nd edition (Oxford University Press, Hong Kong)
16.
EvansD M E, 1971, “Some legal aspects of urbanisation in Hong Kong”, in Asian Urbanisation: A Hong Kong Casebook Ed. DwyerD J (Hong Kong University Press, Hong Kong) pp 20–32
17.
FischelW A, 1978, “A property rights approach to municipal zoning”Land Economics5464–81
18.
FischelW A, 1985The Economics of Zoning Law: A Property Rights Approach to American Land Use Control (Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, MD)
19.
GittensJ, 1969Eastern Windows—Western Skies (South China Morning Post, Hong Kong)
20.
HomeR, 1997Of Planting and Planning: The Making of British Colonial Cities (Spon, London)
21.
KongHong, 1924Hong Kong: A Brief History and Guide of Hong Kong and the New Territories (Publicity Bureau for South China, Hong Kong)
22.
Hong Kong Government Reports, 1889 (Government Printer, Hong Kong)
23.
Hong Kong Hansard1946 (Government Printer, Hong Kong), now called Hong Kong Legislative Council Reports of the Meetings
24.
JargowskyP A, 1996, “Taking the money and run: economic segregation in US metropolitan areas”American Sociological Review61984–998
25.
KirschenbaumA, 1974, “Spatial clustering, segregation and urban planning: a methodological approach”Urban Studies11323–327
26.
LaiL W C, 1998, “The leasehold system as a means of planning by contract: the cae of Hong Kong”Town Planning Review69249–275
27.
LethbridgeH J, 1969, “Hong Kong under the Japanese occupation”, in Hong Kong: A Society in Transition—Contributions to the Study of Hong Kong Society Eds JarvieIAgassiJ (Routledge, and Kegan Paul, New York) pp 77–127
28.
MasseyD S, 1990, “American apartheid: segregation and the making of the underclass”American Journal of Sociology96329–357
29.
MasseyD SDentonN A, 1993American Apartheid: Segregation and the Making of the Underclass (Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA)
30.
MorrisJ, 1997Hong Kong: Epilogue to an Empire (Penguin Books, Harmondsworth, Middx)
31.
PosnerR A, 1981The Economics of Justice (Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA)
32.
PryorE G, 1983Housing in Hong Kong (Oxford University Press, Oxford)
33.
SayerG R, 1975Hong Kong 1862–1919: Years of Discretion (University of Hong Kong Press, Hong Kong)
34.
WebsterC, 1998, “Analytical public-choice planning theory: a response to Poulton”Town Planning Review69191–209
35.
Wesley-SmithP, 1987, “Discriminatory legislation in Hong Kong”, draft of a paper presented at the academic symposium The Historic Triangle of Britain, China and Hong Kong: A 60-year Retrospective 1927–1987Lui Ming Chui Confrence Centre, Hong Kong Baptist College, 11 June
36.
WilsonW J, 1987The Truly Disadvantaged: The Inner City, The Underclass, and Public Policy (University of Chicago Press, Chicago, IL)
