China's special economic zones (SEZs) have been established to foster business growth and innovation by improving the institutional context of specific sub-regional areas. We examine the effect of SEZs on the contribution of research and development (R&D) to the market value of firms located in...

Policies involving what are known as Free Economic Zones (FEZs) have been popular among countries interested in attracting foreign investment. While foreign investment has generally benefited the receiving country, the effect of market rivalry is known to reverse this impact. Our paper tests,...

This study examines the impact of China's special economic zones (SEZs) on land misallocation, primarily using city-level data for China from 2003 to 2018. The findings indicate that establishing SEZs exacerbates land misallocation by over-allocating land to cities, resulting in an average...

A capacity development mission was held in Nouakchott, Mauritania, from May 4 to 16, 2025, to support tax and customs compliance and governance in the Free Zone of Nouadhibou (FZN) following the July 2024 law