政府如何加強法定公營機構的合法性呢？作者運用新制度主義分析土地發展公司的重組過程，探究重建公營機構認受性的機制。香港政府在1995年開始市區重建的諮詢，觸發各界就市區重建的需要和土發公司的限制發表意見，諮詢文件最終引發成立市區重建局和重建模式的討論。究竟政府如何在市區重建的範疇裏加強公營機構的認受性呢？在重組過程中，它的營運又如何逐漸被規限為公私合作夥伴模式呢？研究顯示政府透過兩種機制對來自市場、專業界別和政治社會的不同訴求作出回應，第一、模仿私人機構和性質相近的公營機構，令公營機構體現「高透明度」、「接受監管」、「具民意代表」、「具溝通渠道」、「需符合公眾利益」、「互相制衡」、「專業化」、「靈活度高」的普遍管治價值。第二、「將公共理念與日常運作再扣」（recoupling）（例如透過注資、修改法例、監察重建項目、協調各部門、引入現行諮詢模式等）強化及規範執行機構。研究結論肯定新制度主義所提出的「模仿機制」（mimetic）。再者，研究也發現「再扣」在重建公營機構認受性中起著強化和規範的作用，但不能消除社會的矛盾。當法例加強了市建局的權力，有利它與私人發展商合作，加上弱勢的城市運動，重建模式便趨向單一化。基於「再扣」或「解扣」（uncoupling）會因應政治社會的壓力和參與市場的程度有差別，本文提出四個公營機構的類型和假設。最後更會討論城市運動在「市建局年代」下面對的挑戰和限制。

Legitimatization of Public Authority: Comparison of the Urban Renewal Authority and the Land Development Corporation

How does the government strengthen the legitimacy of public authority? The author has used the case of the restructuring of the Land Development Corporation (LDC) to understand the re-legitimatization of public authority in Hong Kong. News archives and documents (1/1995-1/2007) have been used to analyze the institutional norms the government adopted to transform LDC into the Urban Renewal Authority (URA), and the outcomes for the URA in terms of its organizational structure, its performance and its mode of “urban renewal.” This study found that (1) in response to demands from professionals, business associations, political elites and urban movements, the government mimicked both private enterprises and other public authorities to instil corporate governance values such as “transparent,” “being monitored,” “public representative,” “communicative,” “professional,” “flexible” and “public interest-oriented”; and (2) the government sought to recouple the relationship between these institutional norms and the organization’s activities though financial support, law amendment, programme monitoring, inter-departmental coordination and the introduction of a top-down consultative procedure in order to strengthen and regulate the new authority. Strengthening the URA has stabilised its project clearance process, but narrowed its mode of urban renewal to public-private partnership and failed to eliminate urban social conflicts. Based on an analysis of the recoupling process, this study brings out theoretical implications for understanding other public authorities and practical implications for urban development under URA.