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Hong Kong entered an ultra-low fertility regime nearly two decades ago (Census and Statistics Department, 2013). The causes of ultra-low fertility in Hong Kong are the same as those in other developed economies (Tu and Lam, 2009). The phenomenon, in most of the western world and East Asian societies, is attributed to the incongruence between individual-oriented and family-oriented institutions (McDonald, 2000), or simply role incompatibility between work and motherhood (Stycos and Weller, 1967). One viable solution to alleviate role incompatibility is to introduce family-work reconciliation policies, including maternal and paternal leaves, subsidized child care and health care and work facilities that allow for breastfeeding (Lappegard, 2010). The purpose of this paper is to assess the family-friendly measures for enhancing fertility.

The paper analyzes the current demographic conundrum and makes recommendations.

Subsidized child care is an effective measure if it satisfies the five main criteria, namely, availability, accessibility, acceptability, cost, and quality, suggested by Rindfuss et al. (2003). Other family-friendly measures are inadequate in absolute terms and inferior to those of Asian countries such as Japan, Singapore, and South Korea (Ministry of Manpower, 2014; OECD, 2013). The possibility of shifting away from the ultra-low fertility regime remains doubtful, especially because low fertility is a combined effect of an increasing prevalence of single older women (Census and Statistics Department, 2014), a shift of the utility function of children toward other consumable goods (Inglehart, 1982) and a desire for achieving upward intragenerational and intergenerational social mobility (Ariès, 1980).

Since Hong Kong still subsides in the regime of the lowest-low fertility, an evaluation of the related family-friendly measures will provide constructive insights to the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government how to provide incentives to citizens to consider making childbearing decisions.

Because the introduction of family-friendly measures and gender ideologies are intractably linked (Brewster and Rindfuss, 2000), Hong Kong stays in the middle of nations of families and nations of individuals, influenced by western ideas and traditional family values. It is hence worthwhile to examine the effectiveness of different family-friendly measures.

The purpose of this paper is to focus on the issue and the reasons why fertility patterns in many industrialized and post-industrialized societies decline so rapidly, primarily in newly industrialized countries, particularly in East Asia, and especially after the countries have adopted the capitalist and market economy as the preferred approach to improve the lives of their population.

The authors discuss gender equality and the relationship between fertility and female labor force participation in industrialized and post-industrialized countries, in the context of role incompatibility, mainly for women and the level of the strength and rigidity of family- and gender-role norms/attitudes that affect the behaviors of men and women.

The existing family-related policies and programs which have reduced the role conflict and incompatibility experienced by working mothers are reviewed and discussed under national orientations toward the resolution of work–family conflict since they could affect the relevance, acceptance, significance and effectiveness of policies being developed and approved to carry on under institutional context within a nation.

Specific strategies and policies to reduce role incompatibility and childcare arrangements and their costs are discussed, especially for East Asian nations.

Hong Kong is considered to be an aging population because of the ultralow fertility rates and long life expectancy of its population. A promising solution to remedy this age imbalance is to recruit young people from outside Hong Kong. The inflow of Type II babies (i.e. babies born of Mainland Chinese women whose spouses are not Hong Kong citizens) has created an abundance of them within the young population. The paper aims to discuss this issue.

These controversies have been evaluated being mindful of the operation of a free economy in Hong Kong and the relevance of upholding the rule of law (Wong, 2012).

Wong’s (2012) recommendations to endow the Hong Kong Government with the authority to approve applications from a one-way permit system and to separate the right of residency of Type II babies from their entitlement to welfare services have also been summarized.

The inflow of Type II babies, however, has also generated public controversy concerning the intensifying competition for both public and private hospital services between Hong Kong residents and Mainlanders. This controversy has given rise to some questioning of whether a reinterpretation of the law is warranted to deny residency to Type II babies whose parents are not Hong Kong residents (Wong, 2012).

This paper aims to assess the performance evaluation of major international airports in the world.

In this study, the authors utilized data envelopment analysis in an input‐oriented method to discuss the overall operational performance of 20 major international airports between 2001 and 2005. They used cross efficiency measure to determine the international airports that enjoy the best operational performances and used the bilateral model to compare the performance differences between international airports of different regions.

The Atlanta Airport (ATL) in the USA and the Beijing Airport (PEK) in China experienced MPSS. The overall performance of international airports in Asia is better than those in Americas, Europe, and Oceania.

Service quality can be discuss in the field in the future.

In sensitivity analysis, four inputs had positive impacts on overall performances.

The ATL in the USA and the PEK in China were the best practices for the other international airports.

The aging crisis in Hong Kong is unique in that it was caused by several waves of immigration and emigration, coupled with inadequate investment in tertiary education (Wong, 2013b). The purpose of this paper is to study the causes and outcomes of the Hong Kong aging crisis and, where appropriate, advise on mitigation strategies.

The paper analyzes the current demographic predicament and makes recommendations.

A viable method for alleviating this demographic problem is to introduce various immigration schemes; however, these have been rendered futile because of a lack of infrastructure necessary for attracting immigrants and mitigating the protectionism that occurs among local workers and in trade unions in Hong Kong. A purely open and proactive immigration policy should involve prioritizing the admission of professionals and laborers across pillar industries and areas where technical skills are in short supply, as well as setting a daily immigration quota of 50 to recruit professionals with university degrees from abroad (Wong, 2013a). A comprehensive immigration policy should also be complemented by encouraging Hong Kong residents who work overseas to return (Wong, 2013a).

The paper analyzes the demographic predicament of labor shrinkage in Hong Kong and summarizes the recommendations for attracting talent and professionals from abroad.

The purpose of this paper is to consider the background to the recent changes to adult safeguarding in Wales as a result of the new measures introduced by the Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014 and discuss their potential impact.

The paper relies on a range of material including reports published by the Law Commission, the National Assembly for Wales and other public bodies. It also refers to academic and practitioner material in journals and government guidance.

Although the Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014 introduced many changes in adult safeguarding in Wales, not least the duty to make enquiries, it does not take the opportunity to include statutory powers of barring and removal. The introduction of Adult Protection and Support Orders (APSOs) is a cautious step forward – perhaps it is too cautious. More research in needed on the different approaches across the UK.

At the time of publication, the full effect of the new legislation has not been seen. Local authorities and others are coming to terms with the new provisions. No data on the impact of the new legislation are yet available. The paper identifies future research evaluating the working of the different approaches to safeguarding within the UK.

For practitioners, the new legislation provides opportunities to rethink the approach to safeguarding. The lower threshold for referrals will mean an increase in caseloads and the need to react to both low- and high-risk cases. For authorised officers, the practical issues identified relate to the circumstances in which an APSO may be sought and what can be put in place to protect the adult at risk once the order has been used.

For those who experience abuse or neglect, the new legislation provides additional support when compared to the POVA process. The duty to make enquiries and the duty to report will hopefully strengthen protection and, with a lower threshold for referral, enable more preventative work to be done at an earlier stage. Whether the new APSO will make a difference remains to be seen.

As this is new legislation, there is very little analysis of the implications of the Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014 in relation to safeguarding. This paper presents an overview and, in places, a critical analysis of the new safeguarding duties.

This paper aims to provide a new approach to evaluate intellectual property (IP) and uses a cautious view of how volatility impacts the economic value of IPs.

Real option is a useful tool for valuing investments under uncertainty and if it is applied to the valuation of IP with some modifications, it is also widely accepted. However, it is still debatable whether there is a constant rate‐of‐return. This paper incorporates a sensitivity variable to account for the volatility of the expected rate of return. Thus, rate‐of‐return can be a constant or increase with volatility.

First, it was found in the simple model that Vega may be negative when the option is deep in the money. Second, in the general model, the option can be seen as a sequence of options and under the constant rate‐of‐return shortfall setting, it resembles traditional financial options with positive Vega.

The scenario set‐up allows the authors to explain why uncertainties of future cash flows drive firms to invest now instead of later.

The purpose of this article is to discuss the implications of government responses to COVID-19 for older people. Governments in England and in Wales faced complex decisions when responding to COVID-19. This paper considers the impact of their actions on the human rights of older people. It argues that there is a case to answer of potential breaches of the European Convention on Human Rights. Although it is too early to come to firm conclusions as more scientific and medical evidence is required, some actions by governments seem to be based on using age as a basis for decision-making. Human rights are complex, and it is important that claims of violations satisfy the Convention, the Human Rights Act 1998, the jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights and other international instruments.

The paper considers the legal framework of the European Convention and its relevance to Corona Virus Disease (COVID-19) and older people. Case law, academic research, guidance and media coverage form the basis of the research.

The governments have a strong case to answer. In defending their positions against allegations of discrimination against older people, they need to produce strong and convincing evidence including medical and scientific evidence that formed the basis of their decisions.

This paper is based on original research into human rights, older people and COVID-19.

ONE of the most difficult jobs in airframe repair is that of the inspector whose duty it is to detect and assess damage to the airframe structure, and this article is an attempt to review the many problems and difficulties with which he is faced when inspecting damage of the type caused by enemy action or heavy landings. I have not dealt with damage due to such causes as wear in moving parts, as their inspection is regularly undertaken as part of the normal maintenance routine and no new problems are likely to arise; crash‐landing damage, on the other hand, is generally a much more difficult job than enemy‐action damage from the inspector's point of view, and it is therefore dealt with at greater length.