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...

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...

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...

Many developing country governments would like to attract investment and create jobs in manufacturing and high-tech industries. Heavy and unpredictable laws and regulations, frequent demands for bribes, high taxes, poor-quality roads, slow and inefficient ports, and unreliable power, however,...

This book mainly studies Shenzhen's continuous formation of a number of "Shenzhen experience," "Shenzhen Quality," "Shenzhen Standard," "Shenzhen sample," and so on in promoting industrial digital transformation, stimulating the potential of digital industrialization, strengthening the digital...

This study examines the interplay of air connectivity, sports events, infrastructures, and fiscal support during the period 2017 and 2022 in a designated area called Special Economic Zone in Mandalika, Lombok Island, West Nusa Tenggara to boost tourism development in Indonesia by utilizing big...

This paper provides novel evidence on the impact of a prominent place-based policy – Special Economic Zones (SEZs) – on the economic well-being of African households. Exploiting time variation in SEZ establishment on a dataset of repeated cross-sections of households in 10 African countries...

We study the effects of place-based policies on aggregate productivity using administrative data on projects co-financed by the EU in Italy linked to balance sheet data. We exploit quasi-experimental variation in funding for a large place-based policy stemming from measurement error in regional...

We study the effects of place-based policies on aggregate productivity using administrative data on projects co-financed by the EU in Italy linked to balance sheet data. We exploit quasi-experimental variation in funding for a large place-based policy stemming from measurement error in regional...

This paper establishes the linkage between place-based policies and growth from the perspective of regional innovation, using China as a case study. Leveraging extensive data on special economic zones (SEZs) and patent data, I examine the causal effects and underlying channels of SEZ...

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,...

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...

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,...

The Wałbrzych Special Economic Zone «INVEST-PARK» has managed to transform Wałbrzych from an area known mainly as a by-gone hub for heavy industry to an attractive place to invest in, by providing subsidies in the form of tax allowances.

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...

This explorative study analyses how the use of tax expenditures affects the fiscal contract in Zimbabwe by focusing on special economic zones (SEZs) in the mining sector. SEZs combine a variety of business-related tax expenditures. Governments use them to attract investment, boost exports,...

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

This paper evaluates the effects of a place-based program in the Yangtze Delta of China-Special Economic Zones (SEZs). Taking into account spatial proximity, this paper quantifies the spillover effects of the human capital in SEZs. One major finding is that regional productivity benefits from...

This study examines the effect of investment promotion through the special economic zone (SEZ) mechanism on foreign direct investment (FDI) inflow across Cambodia. We applied generalized methods of moments (GMM) to panel data constructed from 19 Cambodian provinces during 2015-2019. Our results...

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...

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...

This paper examines how the gender of CEOs affect product and process innovations at the firm level, focusing on how SEZ features affect the gender-innovations nexus. The study employs data containing 328 firms from 2018 to 2021 and panel logit and treatment estimation models. The results show...

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...

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...