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The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether a few leading Hong Kong construction firms are also efficient contractors. Theoretically, market leaders can exploit the virtue of economy of scale, learning curve and cost leadership to consolidate their competitiveness. However, if market share is key success factor for firms to become and stay competitive, smaller contractors will be further marginalized if the construction market continues to shrink as Hong Kong's economy approaches maturity. Hence the research question is: Have a few leading contractors been taking advantage of their market size to be efficient in Hong Kong?

Based on the Data Envelopment Analysis Assurance Region (DEA_AR) model, the efficiency scores of 17 major Hong Kong contractors are compiled over the last ten years. DEA is a non‐parametric approach to examine the relative efficiency among different firms, in terms of output/input ratios. Unlike traditional I‐O analysis which relies on a static table of coefficients, DEA does not require any priori and usually subjective weights for inputs or outputs.

The results identify efficient contractors, among which the three leading ones (China State Construction, Shui On Construction and Yau Lee Holdings) have captured the majority of housing construction contract values. Nevertheless, only China State Construction has ranked consistently as most efficient over time. The efficiency scores of Shui On Construction have decreased successively from 2002 to 2009, and it has been the least efficient contractor from 2006 to 2009. Yau Lee Holdings has a V‐curve of efficiency scores.

This study represents the first attempt to adopt a DEA_AR model to evaluate construction contractors' efficiency, which reduces the number of zeroes and the variation in weights for estimation and enhances the adequacy for individual contractor's efficiency scores, compared to other types of DEA models such as the CCR model and the BCC model.

This paper aims to investigate the effectiveness of the safe working cycle (SWC) in improving existing site safety performance of construction projects in Hong Kong and to identify the perceived benefits, potential difficulties and insightful recommendations of implementing the SWC in the future.

The professional views on the effectiveness of implementing the SWC, the benefits and difficulties of the SWC, together with the effective recommendations for future execution of the SWC, were gleaned by ten in-depth interviews involving the representatives of senior professional staff members from major construction companies and related government works departments.

Responses from in-depth interviews indicated that the SWC is generally effective in improving site safety performance and preventing the occurrence of construction accidents. The implementation of the SWC is also found useful in facilitating safety-related communications, enhancing safety awareness of frontline workers and identifying potential hazards. However, the industrial practitioners encountered some difficulties associated with the SWC, including limited space on worksites, irregular working schedules for the different trades working on-site, a lack of motivation for participation by workers and an over-tight project schedule that causes time pressure to complete work resulting in a lack of priority.

The recommended measures include the establishment of a reward scheme, engagement of professional aerobic trainers, design of site-specific SWC, mandatory enforcement of the SWC through legislation, regular review of the SWC effectiveness, increased financial support from client organisations and creation of a more realistic project schedule.

This study has instigated a wider debate on the underlying benefits and potential difficulties of the SWC for reference by the construction industry at large. Although the SWC is being currently executed in those new-build construction projects only, it may likewise be applied to other projects within the wide spectrum of facilities management sector and large-scale building repair/maintenance services in both Hong Kong and overseas. Therefore, the contribution from this paper could be extended to the discipline of facilities management as well.

The purpose of this study is to present and compare the productive efficiency of China Mainland and China Hong Kong contractors, and to identify and investigate the components and sources of their efficiency under different economic and institutional environments.

Data envelopment analysis (DEA) is a non‐parametric approach to examine the relative efficiency among different firms. This study employs DEA based Malmquist Productivity Index (MPI) to compile the efficiency scores of 20 construction companies listed in the Hong Kong Exchange and Clearing Limited (HKEx) from 2004 to 2010.

A decomposition of MPI suggests that catch‐up effect has contributed more to contractor's efficiency than frontier‐shift effect. Compared to their Mainland counterparts, Hong Kong contractors have higher MPI mainly due to higher efficiency scores in catch‐up effect.

Hong Kong contractors have advantage over Mainland contractors in their managerial and strategic capabilities. Hence Hong Kong contractors should lever on their managerial expertise in accounting, financing and legal services when exporting their services. Meanwhile, Mainland contractors should improve their efficiency by making the most use of their technological and human resources, thus improving upon their international entrepreneurship.

This study is the first attempt to apply MPI to compare the productive efficiency of listed contractors in China Mainland and China Hong Kong. The findings contribute to the body of knowledge for productive efficiency measurement.

This study aims to develop a prototype for measuring the carbon emissions arising from the utilization of electrical appliances in a typical Hong Kong family in Kowloon District.

To estimate carbon emission coefficients of energy consumption, the US building energy database books are referred to, which include home appliances’ energy end-use expenditure splits and energy end-use carbon splits. Due to differences in climate, geography and culture, the estimation equations are refined with assumptions and constraints based on the context of Hong Kong.

By calculating the amount of carbon emissions from different electrical appliances, including space cooling, water heating, lighting, refrigeration, wet cleaning and cooking, it is estimated that the carbon emissions from major home electrical appliances in Hong Kong’s residential building sector is 1,805,397 metric tons. According to the findings of this study, by adopting the energy-saving guidelines for space coolers, refrigerators, water heaters and washing machines, carbon emissions in Hong Kong’s residential building sector can be reduced by 155,443 metric tons, or by 8.6 per cent of the current emission.

Due to limited resources, the case study does not cover residential units in other districts of Hong Kong, including the Hong Kong Island and the New Territories. In addition, relevant institutional and financing costs of implementing the proposed practices such as increasing the air-conditioning temperature and upgrading the lighting system should be further considered. Future research will be extended to the wider territory of Hong Kong and to obtain more cases for analysis.

This paper provides a microscopic perspective on investigating the carbon emissions associated with energy consumption from major home electrical appliances in Hong Kong’s residential buildings. By unveiling the interaction between energy consumption and carbon emission, we formulate measures and strategies for implementing a cost reduction and carbon saving scheme of Hong Kong’s residential buildings, which is in line with government’s guidelines on green buildings.

This study aims to provide a systematic review of the literature on destination competitiveness. It explores research themes and approaches, and outlines an agenda for future research.

One hundred and eighty-three journal articles on destination competitiveness published in English since 2010 were collected. Content analysis was performed.

The authors found that sustainable development and smart tourism were popular themes related to destination competitiveness. Recent studies still relied heavily on Ritchie and Crouch’s (2000) model or Dwyer and Kim’s (2003) model. The authors also offer constructive insights for future research, proposing that research seek more input from residents, take an advanced integrated approach between supply and demand, adopt more core theories, focus on less researched types of destinations, explore the further contribution of smart tourism and adopt a negative lens to study the antecedents and consequences of destination competitiveness. The adoption of a longitudinal study approach is also suggested.

This paper contributes to the literature because of the scope of its review and perspective of discussion. Previous review papers have only focused on the factors and indicators of tourism destination competitiveness in different settings. We extend our literature review to research themes and approaches, and make suggestions for future research directions.

本研究对目的地竞争力相关的文献进行了系统性回顾, 以探讨研究主题、方法和未来议程。

本研究收集了自2010年以来以英文发表的183 篇关于目的地竞争力的期刊文章, 并进行了内容分析。

我们发现可持续发展和智慧旅游是与目的地竞争力相关的热门主题。近期的研究仍然主要依赖Ritchie 和Crouch（2000）的模型或Dwyer和Kim（2003）的模型。我们为未来的研究提供了建设性的意见, 建议研究寻求更多居民的意见, 采取进阶的供给与需求的综合方法, 采用更多的核心理论, 关注较少研究过的目的地类型, 探索智慧旅游的进一步贡献, 并采用反向的视角来研究目的地竞争力的前因和后果。我们还建议采用纵向研究的方法。

本研究在评论的范围和讨论的角度对文献作出了贡献。以往的文献综述性文章只关注不同环境下的旅游目的地竞争力的因素和指标。我们在回顾研究主题、方法和对未来研究的建议等方面进行了扩展。

Se recopilaron ciento ochenta y tres artículos de revistas sobre la competitividad de los destinos publicados en inglés desde 2010. Se realizó un análisis de contenido.

Este estudio presenta una revisión sistemática de la bibliografía sobre la competitividad de los destinos. Se analizan temas y enfoques de investigación y se presenta una agenda para futuras investigaciones.

Se constató que el desarrollo sostenible y el turismo inteligente eran temas populares relacionados con la competitividad de los destinos. Los estudios recientes siguen basándose en gran medida en el modelo de Ritchie y Crouch (2000) o en el de Dwyer y Kim (2003). Se presentan ideas constructivas para futuras investigaciones, proponiendo que las investigaciones se centren en más aportaciones de los residentes, adopten un enfoque integrado avanzado entre la oferta y la demanda, se basen en mayor medida en las teorías fundamentales, se centren en tipos de destinos menos investigados, exploren la contribución adicional del turismo inteligente y adopten una óptica negativa para estudiar los antecedentes y las consecuencias de la competitividad de los destinos. También se sugiere la adopción de un enfoque de estudio longitudinal.

Este trabajo contribuye a la literatura por el alcance de su revisión y la perspectiva de la discusión. Los trabajos de revisión anteriores sólo se han centrado en los factores e indicadores de la competitividad de los destinos turísticos en diferentes entornos. Se amplía la revisión de la literatura a temas y enfoques de investigación, y se plantean sugerencias para futuras direcciones de investigación.

It is well recognized that emotions support adaptation to environmental demands by guiding cognitions and behavior in line with one’s implicit and explicit goals. This is true in the work context, as in other areas of life. Traditionally, however, research into emotion regulation within the work context has been centered on the problematic aspects of feeling and displaying emotion at work. In order to meet organizational goals, felt emotions need to be subdued or modified, and inauthentic emotions displayed. In this way, conceptualizations of work-related emotion regulation have disconnected emotion from its most basic and adaptive signal function. This disconnection has led to a dilemma regarding the real- and the fake-self and been associated with a range of negative consequences for employee health and well-being. Understanding how emotions can be regulated to help employees meet personal goals for growth and development has also been overlooked. In this chapter, we challenge this existing paradigm, and instead argue that examining emotion regulation in terms of its adaptive functions will help to unify disparate findings from within the emotion regulation literature and progress research in the field of emotion and emotion regulation at work.

This study aims to investigate low-carbon footprint travel choices, considering both destination attributes and climate change perceptions, and examine the impacts of nudging (a communication tool to alter individuals’ choices in a predictable way) on tourists’ preferences for carbon mitigation in destinations.

A discrete choice experiment questionnaire was administered to a sample of 958 Hong Kong respondents. Hybrid choice modeling was used to examine the respondents’ preferences for destination attributes and to explain preference heterogeneity using tourists’ climate change perceptions. The respondents’ willingness to pay for the destination attributes was also calculated to measure the monetary value of the attributes.

Destination type, carbon emissions and travel cost had significant effects on tourists’ choices of destination. Nudging increased tourists’ preference for low-carbon footprint choices. Tourists with higher climate change perceptions were more likely than others to select low-carbon destinations with carbon offset projects.

The findings of this study provide an impetus for destination management organizations to support local carbon offset projects, implement policies that mitigate carbon emissions and develop sustainable tourism to fulfill tourists’ demand for low-carbon footprint travel choices. Based on the findings, policymakers could promote sustainable tourism by publishing relevant climate change information on social media.

This study addressed a gap in the literature on tourist travel choice by considering carbon emission-related attributes and climate change perceptions and by confirming the role of nudging in increasing the choice of low-carbon destinations.