Using social networks to exit Hong Kong

On July 1, 1997, the red flag of the People’s Republic of China was hoisted over Hong Kong as the British colony reverted to China. This looming event gave rise to great anxiety in Hong Kong for more than a decade. It was widely believed in the West that most Hong Kong families fled for political reasons. But, if that were the case, emigrants and nonemigrants would differ mainly by their political views, or by the economic backing to act on these views. Our study finds that this is not the case. Instead, emigrants and nonemigrants differ mainly by their social networks. Emigrants are linked abroad through kin and friends and other people close to them, while the nonemigrants have constructed few of these ties.