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Professor Wai-Fung LAM 林維峯

Professor
Director, Center for Civil Society and Governance
Director, Doctor of Public Administration (DPA)
Director, Master of Public Administration (MPA)
Director, BSocSc(Govt & Laws) & LLB Programme

Wai-Fung (Danny) Lam finished his undergraduate study at the Chinese University of Hong Kong; and received a Ph.D. in Public Policy from Indiana University, Bloomington. Professor Lam is an expert in institutional policy analysis, the commons, sustainability, social innovation, water management, civil society, and public governance. His research has evolved around the design of effective institutional arrangements for the governance and management of public affairs, a core issue in public governance and sustainable development. Professor Lam is Director of the Centre for Civil Society and Governance at HKU, which conducts academic/impact research on rural sustainability, social inclusion, business sustainability, AI and public governance, and nonprofit governance.  Particularly, the rural sustainability effort in Lai Chi Wo was awarded the prestigious Special Recognition for Sustainable Development in the 2020 UNESCO Asia-Pacific Awards for Cultural Heritage Conservation.  Professor Lam is also Co-director of the Centre for Water Technology and Policy, researching on the design of policy tools for water conservation.  Professor Lam has served on the editorial committees of Public Administration Review (PAR), International Review of Administrative Sciences (IRAS), Journal of Comparative Policy Analysis (JCPA), Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly (NVSQ), and Asian Politics and Policy (APP), and is co-editor of The Asia-Pacific Journal of Public Administration (APJPA).  Professor Lam was Head of Department in 2008-2010 and 2022-2024, and Associate Dean (Innovation) of Social Sciences in 2013-2017; he is currently Director of the Master of Public Administration (MPA) and the Doctor of Public Administration (DPA) Programmes.

Selected Publications

Books

  • Governing Irrigation Systems in Nepal: Institutions, Infrastructure, and Collective Action. Oakland, CA: Institute for Contemporary Studies (ICS) Press. 1998.
  • Asian Irrigation Systems in Transition: Responding to the Challenges Ahead (co-edited with Ganesh P. Shivakoti, Douglass Vermillion, Elinor Ostrom, Ujjwal Pradhan, Robert Yoder). New Delhi/Thousand Oaks/London: Sage Publications. 2005.
  • Improving Irrigation in Asia: Sustainable Performance of an Innovative Intervention in Nepal (with Elinor Ostrom, Prachanda Pradhan and Ganesh P. Shivakoti). Cheltenham: Edward Elgar. 2011.
  • Public Policymaking in Hong Kong: Civic Engagement and State-Society Relations in a Semi-Democracy (with Eliza Wing Yee Lee, Elaine Yee Man Chan, Joseph Cho Wai Chan, Peter Tsan Yin Cheung, and Wai-man Lam). London: Routledge. 2012
  • Revitalizing Rural Communities (with Jessica Williams, Vivian Chu, and Winnie Law). Singapore: Springer Nature. 2021.

Articles

  • “Firms’ Preferences for Environmental, Social and Governance Policies: Evidence from Small and Medium Enterprises in Hong Kong” (with Lin Nie, and Edward Chan). Business Strategy and the Environment. 2025. Forthcoming.
  • “Breaking Down Purchasing Intentions: Selecting Policy Instruments for Sustainable Consumption” (with Vivian Chu, Cheryl Chui, and Jessica Williams).  Journal of Asian Policy and Politics. 2025. Forthcoming.
  • “A Synthesis of Rational Choice and Critical Urban Commons Debates” (with Xiaolu Wang, and Theresa E. Lorenzo). International Journal of the Commons. 2024. Forthcoming.
  • “Nested Institutions for Nested Problems: Commoning for Rural Revitalization in the Peri-Urban Setting” (with Jessica Williams, Vivian Chu, and Winnie Law). International Journal of the Commons. Forthcoming. 2024.
  • “Building Robustness for Rural Revitalization: A Social-Ecological System Perspective” (with Vivian Chu and Jessica Williams).  Journal of Rural Studies 101:103042. 2023.
  • “Social Expectations for Charitable Giving in China” (with Lin Nie and Kwan Nok Chan). Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly 52(3): 817-37. 2023.
  • "Nonprofit Online Responsiveness: An Exploratory Field Experiment in China" (with Lin Nie). Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly 51(2): 369-88. 2022.
  • “Bureaucratizing Coproduction: Institutional Adaptation of Irrigation Associations in Taiwan” (with Ching-Ping Tang and Shih-Ko Tang). Water Alternatives 14(2): 435-52. 2021.
  • “Irrigation Management in East Asia: Institutions, Socioeconomic Transformation and Adaptations” (with Raymond Yu Wang and Jinxia Wang). Water Alternatives 14(2): 319-31. 2021.
  • “Elite Bargains and Policy Priorities in Authoritarian Regimes: Agenda Setting in China under Xi Jinping and Hu Jintao” (with Kwan Nok Chan and Shaowei Chen). Governance 34(3): 837-54. 2021.
  • “Online or Offline? Nonprofits Choice and Use of Social Media in Hong Kong” (with Lin Nie). Voluntas 31:111-28. 2020
  • “Bureaucratic Control and Information Processing: An Institutional Comparison” (with Kwan Nok Chan). Governance 31(3):575-92. 2018.
  • “Policy Advocacy in Transitioning Regimes: Comparative Lessons from the Case of Harbour Protection in Hong Kong” (with Kwan Nok Chan). Journal of Comparative Policy Analysis: Research and Practice 19(1):54 - 71. 2017.
  • “Institutional Nesting and Robustness of Self-governance: The Adaptation of Irrigation Systems in Taiwan” (with Chung Yuan Chiu). International Journal of the Commons 10(2):953 - 81. 2016
  • “How Authoritarianism Intensifies Punctuated Equilibrium: The Dynamics of Policy Attention in Hong Kong” (with Kwan Nok Chan). Governance 28(4):549 - 70. 2015.
  • “Giving in Hong Kong: A Growing Sector Evading Regulation” (with Elaine Chan). In The Palgrave Handbook of Global Philanthropy, eds. Pamala Wiepking and Femida Handy, 369 - 87. Palgrave Macmillan. 2015.
  • “The Tragedy of the Commons.” In Encyclopedia of Political Science, eds. B. Badie, D. Berg-Schlosser, and L. Morlino, Leonardo. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications. 2011
  • “Governing the Commons.” In Handbook of Governance, ed. Mark Bevir, 501 - 17. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications. 2010.
    “Analyzing the Dynamic Complexity of Development Interventions: Lessons from an Irrigation Experiment in Nepal” (with Elinor Ostrom). Policy Sciences 43:1 - 25. 2010.
  • “Foundations of a Robust Social-ecological System: Irrigation Institutions in Taiwan.” Journal of Institutional Economics 2(2):1 - 24. 2006.
  • “Coordinating the Government Bureaucracy in Hong Kong: An Institutional Analysis.” Governance 18(4):633 - 54. 2005.
  • “Coping with Change: A Study of Local Irrigation Institutions in Taiwan.” World Development 29(9):1569 - 92. 2001.
  • “The Role of the Nonprofit Sector in Hong Kong’s Development” (with James Perry). Voluntas 11(4):357 - 75. 2000.
  • “Institutional Design of Public Agencies and Coproduction: A Study of Irrigation Associations in Taiwan.” World Development 24(6): 1039 - 54. 1996.
  • “Improving the Performance of Small-Scale Irrigation Systems: The Effects of Technological Investments and Governance Structure on Irrigation Performance in Nepal.” World Development 24(8):1301 - 15. 1996.
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