IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/taf/regstd/v57y2023i11p2136-2147.html

What draws investment to special economic zones? Lessons from developing countries

Author

Listed:
  • Susanne A. Frick
  • Andrés Rodríguez-Pose

Abstract

Special economic zones (SEZs) are a popular policy tool for the promotion of economic development. However, questions remain about their economic contribution and about what aspects of SEZ policies are most relevant to investors. This article sheds light on these issues by comparing SEZs across Africa, Asia and Latin America. We find that while investment decisions by foreign companies are driven by market access, political stability and low labour costs, adequate SEZ policies facilitate the attraction of investment. A good industrial infrastructure together with a strategic location and service provision within the zones draw investment. Fiscal incentives, by contrast, have a limited influence on investment decisions.

Suggested Citation

  • Susanne A. Frick & Andrés Rodríguez-Pose, 2023. "What draws investment to special economic zones? Lessons from developing countries," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 57(11), pages 2136-2147, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:regstd:v:57:y:2023:i:11:p:2136-2147
    DOI: 10.1080/00343404.2023.2185218
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/00343404.2023.2185218
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1080/00343404.2023.2185218?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to look for a different version below or

    for a different version of it.

    Other versions of this item:

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Susanne A. Frick & Imane Radouane, . "Special economic zones and entrepreneurship: A new path forward for SEZs in Africa?," UNCTAD Transnational Corporations Journal, United Nations Conference on Trade and Development.
    2. Jose Carlo Bermúdez & Tatiana Flores & Thiago Scot, 2024. "Firms’ Networks Under Export Exemption Regimes," World Bank Publications - Reports 41570, The World Bank Group.
    3. Lyu, Wenyi & Yang, Jian & Yu, Leng, 2025. "Place-based policies, pro-competitive effects, and allocative efficiency: Evidence from China’s economic zones," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 191(C).
    4. Li, Jiaxin & Zhan, Shaoguo & Wang, Xuetian, 2025. "Can special economic zones in China enhance firm's global value chain position?," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 361-372.
    5. Glenn P. Jenkins & Abdallah Othman & Edna Armendariz & Anastasiya Yarygina, 2025. "Systematic Review Of Evidence On The Impact Of Tax Incentives In Latin American And Caribbean Countries," Development Discussion Papers 2025-05, JDI Executive Programs.
    6. Liu, Xin & Xu, Zhao & Zhang, Kailai & Kang, Zhiyong & Xie, Xinyue, 2025. "Can upgrading development zones enhance regional entrepreneurial activity? Evidence from Chinese enterprise registration data," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 98(C).
    7. Rothenberg, Alexander D. & Wang, Yao & Chari, Amalavoyal, 2025. "When regional policies fail: An evaluation of Indonesia’s Integrated Economic Development Zones," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 176(C).
    8. Cali, Massimiliano & Presidente, Giorgio & De Gouvea Scot de Arruda, Thiago, 2025. "The Elusive Impact of Corporate Tax Incentives," Policy Research Working Paper Series 11061, The World Bank.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • F21 - International Economics - - International Factor Movements and International Business - - - International Investment; Long-Term Capital Movements
    • O14 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Industrialization; Manufacturing and Service Industries; Choice of Technology
    • O24 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Development Planning and Policy - - - Trade Policy; Factor Movement; Foreign Exchange Policy
    • L52 - Industrial Organization - - Regulation and Industrial Policy - - - Industrial Policy; Sectoral Planning Methods

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:taf:regstd:v:57:y:2023:i:11:p:2136-2147. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Chris Longhurst (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.tandfonline.com/CRES20 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.