| Summary: | A 1996 survey of Hong Kong establishments designed to identify hiring and employment patterns by workers' age indicates that, as in the U.S., many firms employed older workers but did not hire older workers. This pattern seems to reflect mainly economic forces rather than public policy, given that no laws prohibited age discrimination or required uniform fringe benefit provision in Hong Kong. This empirical evidence is consistent with two broad hypotheses: First, workers and firms are more willing to invest in training when workers are young, and second, delayed compensation more effectively deters shirking among young workers than among older workers and is more readily accepted by young workers.
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