@incollection{lau_road_2020, title = {The {Road} to {Service} {Export} {Diversification}: {Gambling} and {Convention} in {Macao}}, isbn = {9789811529054}, url = {https://www.springer.com/gp/book/9789811529054}, abstract = {This book is a compilation of the best papers presented at the APEF 2019 conference which was held on 25th and 26th July 2019 at the Grand Copthorne Waterfront in Singapore. With a great number of submissions, it presents the latest research findings in economics and finance and discusses relevant issues in today's world. The book is a useful resource for readers who want access to economics, finance and business research focusing on the Asia-Pacific region.}, language = {en}, urldate = {2021-02-04}, booktitle = {Economics and {Finance} {Readings}: {Selected} {Papers} from {Asia}-{Pacific} {Conference} on {Economics} \& {Finance}, 2019}, publisher = {Springer Singapore}, author = {Lei, Weng Chi}, editor = {Lau, Evan and Simonetti, Biagio and Trinugroho, Irwan and Tan, Lee Ming}, year = {2020}, doi = {10.1007/978-981-15-2906-1}, } @inproceedings{chau_nowcasting_2021, address = {Hong Kong}, title = {Nowcasting {Gross} {Domestic} {Product} and {Gross} {Gaming} {Revenue} of {Macau}: a {Theoretical} and {Conceptual} {Framework}}, shorttitle = {Nowcasting {Gross} {Domestic} {Product} and {Gross} {Gaming} {Revenue} of {Macau}}, url = {https://www.researchgate.net/publication/362831464_Nowcasting_Gross_Domestic_Product_and_Gross_Gaming_Revenue_of_Macau_a_Theoretical_and_Conceptual_Framework}, abstract = {This paper aimed to build up the theorical and conceptual understanding of future forecasting study of Macau’s GDP and Gross Gaming Revenue (GGR) by co-movement of economic indicators. Macau GDP and GGR showed co-movements with a number of time series economic indicators, including China’s exports and imports, China’s manufacturing PMI, non-manufacturing PMI, China's electricity production growth, share price of some Macau’s gaming operators, etc. These time series data can be found in statistics departments of China, Macau and Hong Kong, stock exchanges, and international organizations such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank, the World Trade Organization (WTO). Burns and Mitchell’s study in 1946 identified co-movements between economic indicators and being further carried out and developed leading, coincident and lagging indicators, which is essential for future econometric models and nowcasting techniques developments to study these co-movements. In particular, with the proper application of nowcasting techniques, future studies can exploit the data of leading and coincident economic indicators to forecast Macau’s GDP and GGR within an acceptable level of error. Since Macau is a “monotown,” where the gaming revenue makes a significant contribution to the economy. The forecasting of gaming revenue is crucial as it aids the gambling and tourism industries in preparing supply and provides information to policymakers to plan for the near future. This research also contributes to understand Macau’s economy by investigating its internal and external economic variables.}, author = {Chau, Manuel and Lei, Weng Chi}, month = dec, year = {2021}, pages = {113--136}, } @misc{weng_chi_lei_impacts_2023, address = {University of Saint Joseph, Macao, China}, type = {Conference}, title = {Impacts of {Policies} and {Infrastructure} on the {Usage} of {Electric} {Vehicles} in {Macao}}, url = {https://ise.usj.edu.mo/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/ESST2023-AbstractBooklet_2023-10-19-lres.pdf}, language = {en}, urldate = {2024-01-14}, author = {{Weng Chi Lei} and Tai, On Teng}, year = {2023}, note = {Publisher: Unpublished}, } @article{lei_impacts_2024, title = {Impacts of {Central} {Bank} {Digital} {Currency} on {Regional} {Economic} {Integration}: {Evidence} from the {Greater} {Bay} {Area} of {China}}, volume = {0}, issn = {1097-1475}, shorttitle = {Impacts of {Central} {Bank} {Digital} {Currency} on {Regional} {Economic} {Integration}}, url = {https://doi.org/10.1080/10971475.2024.2333124}, doi = {10.1080/10971475.2024.2333124}, abstract = {An increasing number of countries have launched their central bank digital currencies (CBDC) in recent years, but the economic impacts of CBDC adoption are underexplored. To empirically assess how CBDC adoption influences regional economic integration, this paper investigates the Greater Bay Area, where China carried out one of its first digital renminbi pilot programs. The Greater Bay Area provides a good example because the growing acceptance of digital renminbi in the area can potentially mitigate transaction costs and risks due to the exchange rate volatility of the Chinese renminbi, Hong Kong dollar, and Macao pataca. CBDC adoption can lead to greater real and financial integrations by facilitating cross-border trade in goods and services. This paper evaluates deviations from uncovered interest rate parity, purchasing power parity, and real interest rate parity across Guangdong, Hong Kong, and Macao based on monthly interest rate and price data from January 2016 to December 2022. The time series have mean values near zero, which validate the parity conditions and indicate high degrees of financial, real, and economic integrations. The Markov regime-switching regression model identifies three regimes: (1) pre-Covid, (2) post-Covid, and (3) post-CBDC. The Covid-19 outbreak brought lower integration and stability, but the launch of the CBDC restored some of the pre-Covid integration and stability. Regimes 1 and 2 are persistent, and transitions from Regime 3 back to Regime 1 are probable. Hence, this study finds evidence that CBDC adoption improves regional economic integration in the short and long run.}, number = {0}, urldate = {2024-03-28}, journal = {The Chinese Economy}, author = {Lei, Weng Chi and Wang, Xinru}, year = {2024}, note = {Publisher: Routledge \_eprint: https://doi.org/10.1080/10971475.2024.2333124}, keywords = {Central bank digital currency, Greater Bay Area, digital renminbi, economic integration, financial integration}, pages = {1--14}, } @article{weng_fintech_2024, title = {Fintech {Adoption}: {A} {Study} of {Users} in the {Guangdong}-{Macao} {In}-{Depth} {Cooperation} {Zone} in {Hengqin} ({China})}, volume = {2024}, copyright = {cc\_by\_4}, issn = {e2600-7320}, shorttitle = {Fintech {Adoption}}, url = {https://intijournal.intimal.edu.my}, abstract = {Intended as an economic and development hub, the Hengqin Cooperation Zone aims to foster collaboration and integration between mainland China, Hong Kong, and Macao, serving as a platform for economic development and innovation among the three regions. The zone's development has increased demand for financial services, often offered through fintech. There is, however, a lack of interoperability between the fintech services currently used in Macao and Hengqin. This may hinder Macao users' adoption of the technology. Thus, our research objective is to identify the factors determining Macao residents' adoption of fintech services in the area and provide insights for service providers, developers, and policymakers. A framework based on the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) and Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) was used for this purpose. The responses of 103 Macao residents provided evidence that ease of use significantly and positively impacts the usefulness of the technology. This in turn influences attitudes towards fintech usage. Subjective norms and perceived behavioral control positively impact fintech adoption intentions. The fintech industry and the governments of Macao and Hengqin can work on improving technology's ease of use and usefulness. They can also promote them to Macao users, and provide the resources required for better access to fintech in the zone}, language = {en}, number = {02}, urldate = {2024-03-28}, journal = {INTI JOURNAL}, author = {Weng, Chi Lei and Lampo, Alessandro}, month = mar, year = {2024}, note = {Number: 02 Publisher: INTI International University}, pages = {1--6}, } @inproceedings{lei_economic_2022, address = {New York, NY, USA}, series = {{ICEME} 2022}, title = {Economic {Integration} in the {GBA}: a {Price}-{Based} {Assessment} of {Real} and {Financial} {Integration} in the {Greater} {Bay} {Area}}, isbn = {978-1-4503-9639-4}, shorttitle = {Economic {Integration} in the {GBA}}, url = {https://doi.org/10.1145/3556089.3556112}, doi = {10.1145/3556089.3556112}, abstract = {The Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area (GBA) was first conceptualized in 2016, which aimed to facilitate trade and finance liberalization among the three regions. The trade and financial environment of the GBA is unique. Due to the “one country, two systems” principle, Mainland China, Hong Kong and Macau are considered to be trading partners bounded by WTO rule, but bilateral free trade agreements have been signed between Mainland China and Hong Kong, and between Mainland China and Macau, but not between Hong Kong and Macau. Furthermore, each of the three regions circulates a local currency subject to its own exchange rate policy, with Hong Kong Dollar and Macau Pataca currently pegged to the US Dollar. These affect the mobility of trade and capital flows in the area. Hence, this paper applies the widely-used price-based approach due to Cheung et al. [5] to analyze the degrees of real and financial integration in the GBA based on interest rates, exchange rates, and price indexes data from January, 2016 to November, 2021. The real interest differential (RID), uncovered interest differential (UID) and the deviation from purchasing power parity (PPD) between each regional pair have means that are statistically and economically close to zero, implying high real and financial integration in the GBA. The unit root tests for stationarity also confirm that the time series are mean-reverting, so the economic integration in the GBA in the long run is foreseeable.}, urldate = {2023-03-14}, booktitle = {2022 13th {International} {Conference} on {E}-business, {Management} and {Economics}}, publisher = {Association for Computing Machinery}, author = {Lei, Weng Chi and Wang, Xinru}, month = nov, year = {2022}, note = {0 citations (Crossref) [2023-03-15]}, keywords = {Economic development policy, Economic integration, Financial Integration, Greater Bay Area}, pages = {198--203}, } @inproceedings{lei_digital_2023, address = {Singapore}, title = {Digital {Renminbi}: {Impacts} on {Economic} {Integration} of the {Greater} {Bay} {Area}}, isbn = {978-981-9919-79-6}, shorttitle = {Digital {Renminbi}}, doi = {10.1007/978-981-99-1979-6_1}, abstract = {The degree of economic integration in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area (GBA), as reflected in the mobility of trade and capital flows, has been strengthened by free trade agreements, but obstacles including border effects, capital controls, differences of exchange rate systems and inadequate cross-regional coordination remain. Digital renminbi (e-CNY) has been tested in Shenzhen, a core GBA city since April 2020. If e-CNY is adopted in the GBA, the area will effectively become a single currency zone. Whether the GBA constitutes an “optimum currency area” (OCA) depends on its degree of economic integration. This paper computes real interest rate differential (RID), uncovered interest rate differential (UID) and deviation from purchasing power parity (PPD) of each regional pair based on data of interest rates, exchange rates and price indexes from 2016M2 to 2022M7. All UID, PPD and RID series have means within about 1 percent point from 0, indicating high degrees of financial integration, real integration and economic integration. With the exception of Guangdong-Macau RID, all series are stationary, implying mean-reverting behavior. Hence, the parities are expected to hold both in the short run and in the long run, which is a condition for an OCA in the GBA. Furthermore, the regression analysis finds that the test launch of e-CNY in Shenzhen (adjusted for the COVID-19 outbreak) has significant impacts on all RIDs, Guangdong-Macau PPD and Hong Kong-Macau PPD. With merely two and a half years of test launch, the introduction of e-CNY already had impacts on overall economic integration in the GBA.}, language = {en}, booktitle = {Economics and {Finance} {Readings}}, publisher = {Springer Nature}, author = {Lei, Weng Chi and Wang, Xinru}, editor = {Lau, Evan and Brahmana, Rayenda Khresna and Tan, Lee Ming}, year = {2023}, keywords = {Economic development policy, Economic integration, Exchange rate regime, Financial integration, Greater Bay Area, Optimum currency area}, pages = {1--14}, } @inproceedings{lei_covid-19_2021, title = {{COVID}-19: {Short}-{Run} {Impacts} of the {Pandemic} on the {Integrated} {Resort} {Oligopoly} of {Macao}}, shorttitle = {{COVID}-19}, url = {https://www.researchgate.net/publication/362831315_COVID-19_Short-Run_Impacts_of_the_Pandemic_on_the_Integrated_Resort_Oligopoly_of_Macao}, abstract = {Objective: As a world tourist destination, Macao is inevitably under the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the market of integrated resorts in Macao are shared by only a few casino concessionaries, together forming an oligopoly. While the firms attempted to adjust price, quantity and quality of their hotel services in response to the pandemic, they could not overlook the strategic interactions with other players in the market. Hence, this paper aims to investigate the possible impact of the pandemic on the oligopolistic strategies in the integrated resort market in Macao. Methodology: Application of a theoretical model of differentiated oligopoly to this six-firm case shows that price differences across firms depend on their quality differentiation. In order to analyze these price differences empirically, this paper collects data of hotel room rates of the integrated resorts from November, 2019 to mid-August, 2020, covering the periods before and after the outbreak of COVID-19. Originality: In the existing literature, there is a lack of studies of the oligopoly in the hospitality industry of Macao. Furthermore, the effect of COVID-19 is still ongoing, so this present paper is one of the first to perform such analysis. Results: The regression of each of the hotel price differentials on the COVID-19 dummy variable shows that COVID-19 has statistically significant impacts on almost all the price differentials. Intuitively, MGM and Wynn were in the high-price segment before and after the outbreak, while other firms switched positions in the low-price segment during the pandemic. One obvious downstream movement was by Conrad. According to the proposition derived from the theory, these imply that COVID-19 should have significant impact on the quality differentiation of the firms. Practical implications: The results are in line with the observations that the integrated resorts have rolled out staycation packages according to preferences of local residents. These quality adjustments observed in Macao’s hospitality industry currently only involved variable inputs rather than fixed inputs of production; therefore, the impact of COVID-19 should be seen as short-term effects. Keywords: Covid-19; Differentiated oligopoly; Hospitality industry; Hotel room rate; Oligopolistic market structure; Pricing strategy.}, author = {Lei, Weng Chi}, month = may, year = {2021}, pages = {121--137}, }