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Selected Development Project
 
Project Title

Equity in Redistribution to the Elderly and Children: An Intergenerational Conflict in Hong Kong?
再分配的公平問題：香港代際衝突的研究
 
Principal Investigator Dr WU Alfred Muluan
 
Area of Research Project
Social Studies
 
Project Period
From 01/2015 To 12/2016
Objectives
  1. To examine the trends in the public expenditure on cash and in-kind benefits to the aged population and children in the past three decades
  2. To assess whether the older adults have received public welfares at the expense of the younger generation in the past three decades
  3. To project the public expenditure on cash and in-kind benefits to the elderly and children in the next three decades by means of macro- and micro-simulation modelling
  4. To evaluate whether the intergenerational conflict over public resources would continue or emerge in the next three decades
Methods Used
Task 1: Following Bradshaw and Holmes (2013), we would use the official macro datasets obtained from the household surveys to estimate the public expenditure on older adults and children in the past three decades.
Task 2: We would also use the micro dataset obtained by the Census and Statistics Department to estimate the public expenditure on older adults and children in the past three decades.
Task 3: following European Union (2011, 2012), we would project the public expenditure for the elderly and children in Hong Kong in the next three decades
Impact
The immediate effect of the proposed study would be academic. Our study would elucidate the debate over horizontal equity and intergenerational fairness in Hong Kong. Moreover, the projection of the future situation, which may be more complex, would inform academics on the level of the intergenerational conflict. Public policy making in Hong Kong would be affected as well. Over the past few years, Hong Kong has recorded a phenomenal economic growth despite a runaway global economy. The government is under great pressure to devise a long-term plan on welfare provisions or to distribute additional public money to society. Disputes may arise in the second scenario because the government’s long-term commitment to welfare provisions is urgently needed. The proposed project would aid the government in making an evidence-based decision.
Biography of Principal Investigator

Dr Alfred M. Wu is Assistant Professor in the Department of Asian and Policy Studies at The Hong Kong Institute of Education. He earned his PhD from City University of Hong Kong, where he was the recipient of the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) scholarship and the Outstanding Academic Performance Awards for Research Degree Students. Before joining the Department, Dr Wu served as a senior research associate in the Department of Public and Social Administration at City University of Hong Kong, and from 2000-2007 served as a senior journalist in Mainland China, where he received over a dozen awards and honours for outstanding journalism both from Chinese and overseas organizations.

Dr Wu’s research interests include public sector reform, central-local fiscal relations, corruption and governance, and social protection in Greater China. Dr Wu has published in internationally peer reviewed journals such as World Development, Public Choice, Publius: The Journal of Federalism, Review of Public Personnel Administration, and the Journal of Contemporary China.
Funding Source

Early Career Scheme