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...

The establishment of Special Economic Zones (SEZs) in 2017 in Campania region in Southern Italy "Mezzogiorno" offers a valuable case study in promoting economic and territorial development. In 2024, the unified Special Economic Zone (SEZ) called 'ZES Unica' is introduced across Southern Italy,...

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...

In September 2013, the Chinese government approved establishing Shanghai Pilot Free Trade Zone (SPFTZ), the first Pilot Free Trade Zone (PFTZ) in the country. SPFTZ mainly implements policy and institutional innovation, aiming to extend reform and opening-up, generate the dividends of reform,...

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,...

Chapter 1. Special Economic Zones: Goals and Definitions -- Chapter 2. Special Economic Zones: a Policy and Organisational Analysis -- Chapter 3. Special Economic Zones Worldwide: Governance Models and Regulations for Work -- Chapter 4. Special Economic Zones in Italy.

This chapter examines the distributional effects of place-based policies in the EU. In a first step, it characterizes existing income inequalities in the EU and distinguishes between their interregional and intraregional dimensions. A key result is that inequalities within European regions make...

This study outlines the features of financing investment development in Sub-Saharan African countries. Using the financial determinants of GDP, a model was developed based on the method of least squares employing data covering 2004-2018. It was revealed that a positive correlation exists between...

This paper provides empirical evidence on the impact of a prominent place-based policy - Special Economic Zones (SEZs) - on the economic well-being of African households. We compile a novel dataset on repeated cross-sections of households living in various distance bands around SEZs in 10...

Qianhai - an innovation park in Shenzhen - has the possibility of boosting innovation in Hong Kong, Shenzhen and in the wider region. This paper reviews the existing evidence about which policies have promoted profitable innovation in the Qianhai region (Hong Kong and Shenzhen) in the past. We...

This Technical Assistance Report summarizes the capacity development support on special economic zone management, provided by IMF expert to Cambodia customs administration, including suggested standard operating procedure, materials used in workshop, and advice on the next steps

Many countries in Asia and the Pacific have experienced rapid economic growth and structural transformation in recent decades. Yet, some countries are still at an early stage of this structural transformation and face external conditions less favorable than those faced by the first movers when...

Over the past few decades, special economic zones (SEZs) have become a widely used industrial policy tool to support structural transformation and economic development. Yet their impact on the economy remains inconclusive, especially in developing countries where the lack of data presents a...

This paper provides empirical evidence on the impact of a prominent placebased policy - Special Economic Zones (SEZs) - on the economic well-being of African households. We compile a novel dataset on repeated cross-sections of households living in various distance bands around SEZs in 10 African...

Artificial intelligence (AI) has become integrated into many areas of business and daily life; however, its strategic impact on organizations in Türkiye has not been thoroughly studied. This study addresses this gap by empirically assessing the effect of AI adoption on perceived business...

Purpose - Considering the impact of the Free Trade Zone (FTZ) policy on forecasting the port cargo throughput, this paper constructs a fractional grey multivariate forecasting model to improve the prediction accuracy of port cargo throughput and realize the coordinated development of FTZ...

Globally, special economic zones (SEZs) are created to boost exports and promote investment by providing units located inside the zones with certain fiscal and non-fiscal incentives that are not available to and/or are different from those given to units in the domestic tariff area (DTA). In...

The Russian Federation has the biggest land area in the Arctic and has been gradually expanding its definition by joining new regions and territories that previously were not considered Arctic to its Arctic Zone of Russian Federation (AZFR). In recent years, two incentivizing programmes, the...

Using micro-level data, this paper examines the effects of Special Economic Zones (SEZs) on firms’ pollution emissions in China. Our results show that the establishment of SEZs in China lowers SEZ firms’ air pollution by at least 13%. Incumbents play the major role in generating this effect....

Mauritius and other Small Island Development States (SIDS) depend heavily on international trade. This presents challenges to environmental management. SIDS are vulnerable to all forms of environmental degradation, of which part are related to international trade, the focus of this chapter....

Through a review of the literature on infrastructure, a study of international experiences, expert knowledge, and the elaboration of a Territorial Infrastructure Support Index (ISIT), this paper provides a comparative analysis of the development conditions -- regarding infrastructure and...

Special Economic Zones (SEZ) have become the forefront in China to test legal and technological reforms for digital trade. This chapter explores three cutting-edge case studies in China’s SEZs: the Beijing blockchain-based Single Window deposit box; newly established big data exchanges in...

The international regional economic integration is developing to a broader and higher standard. The BRICS countries have been cooperating for a long time. As the representatives of the emerging economies of the world, the establishment of a free trade zone by the BRICS can not only promote...

If the domestic market operates under an inefficient economic structure, then access to foreign markets can lead to long-term benefits. In this paper, we examine the effect of free trade zones (FTZs), a progressive trade liberalization program, on corporate innovation. By using data on Chinese...

Development Zones (DZs) are an important spatial carrier for the urban government to guide the allocation of industrial resources, and tax incentives are one of the important policy instruments in the DZs. This study combines Basic Tax Competition (BTC) theory, New Economic Geography (NEG)...

We measure the green technology innovation efficiency of 288 cities in China from static and dynamic dimensions using the [[EQUATION]] model and [[EQUATION]] Index and employ the "Difference in Difference" (DID) model to evaluate the impact of FTZs construction on green technology innovation...

Vietnam has integrated into global value chains through the establishment of special economic zones (SEZs). This paper examines the local labour-market impacts of this programme, building on a unique dataset of SEZs in combination with labour force survey (LFS) data. Using historical satellite...

This paper identifies the importance of reducing fixed costs for establishing industrial zones as part of an agglomeration policy. China's economic growth has been driven by the agglomeration of manufacturing firms via industrial zones that attract foreign direct investment. This investment...

Do Special Economic Zones (SEZs) increase local economic activities in developing countries? This paper explores this question by examining the aggregate district economic effects of SEZs, a place-based development policy in Ethiopia. The study relies on time and district variation in the...