Go to main content.
Go to search.

Project

Special Economic Zones: A force for good to reduce inequality?

Are Special Economic Zones (SEZs) effective policy instruments to promote economic development and is this development also socially inclusive? A consortium of five research institutions from Africa, Asia and Europe joined forces to understand and quantify the impacts of SEZs and similar policies, focusing on both economic efficiency and inequality.

Start of Project: 01.01.2020 — End of Project: 30.06.2024

Suzhou Industrial Park, Jiangsu Province, China

Many developing country governments consider SEZs and the like (industrial parks, free zones, export-processing zones) the golden way to help their countries attract foreign investment and partake in the benefits from global production networks.

However, reliable evidence on the success (or failure) of SEZs in achieving these goals is sporadic and mixed. And even when SEZs generate overall gains for their host countries, not everyone can benefit equally. Inequality among workers, firms and regions within these countries can rise.

We are a consortium of five research institutions from Africa, Asia and Europe that joined forces to better understand the role of SEZs in the economic development process. As part of a four-year research project (2020-2023), we conduct empirical research using observational data on various angles of this topic.

Funding

Our Partners

Policy Article

Special Economic Zones: Boon or bane for emerging country firms?
UNIDO Industrial Analytics Platform
12/2022

Görg, H., Mulyukova, …
Policy Article
Africa’s female entrepreneurs – towards funding success PEGNet Policy Brief
07/2021 Download

Hanley, A., Görg, …
Policy Article
Foreign Trade and Sustainable Business Practices – New Evidence from Ghana KCG Policy Paper
08/2020 Download

Hornok, C., Ackah, …
Policy Article
Policy instruments for FDI promotion in Africa PEGNet Policy Brief
06/2020 Download

Meuchelböck, S., Steglich, …

Journal publications

Görg, Holger and Alina Mulyukova
Place-based Policies and Firm Performance: Evidence from Special Economic Zones in India, European Economic Review, (2024) 165:104752, (DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.euroecorev.2024.104752)

Ackah, Charles Godfred, Robert Darko Osei, and Baah Aye Kusi
Special Economic Zones, Gender and Innovations: New Evidence from an Emerging Economy,Cogent Business & Management, (2024) 11(1):1-15, (DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/23311975.2024.23424877)

Ackah, Charles Godfred, Robert Darko Osei, and Baah Aye Kusi
Special Economic Zone Dynamics and Firm Performance: Evidence from an Emerging Economy, Managerial and Decision Economics, (2024), (DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/mde.4215)

Ganguly, Suparna, Saikat Sinha Roy
Structural Change, Services Sector and Intergenerational Occupational Mobility in India: Some Exploratory Evidence, South Asia Economic Journal, (2023) 24(2): 252-276. (DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/13915614231169152)

Hornok, Cecília, Dewa Gede Sidan Raeskyesa
Economic Zones and Local Income Inequality: Evidence from Indonesia, The Journal of Economic Inequality, (2024) 22:69–100 (DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10888-023-09581-x).

Aggarwal, Aradhna
How Special are Special Economic Zones: Evidence from South Asia, The World Economy, (2023) 46 (8):2447–2555 (DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/twec.13383).

Guopei Fang, Holger Görg, Aoife Hanley and Haiou Mao
Foreign Divestment – Crisis or Chance for China’s Innovation Edge?, China & World Economy, (2022) 30 (6):1–33 (DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/cwe.12444).

Girma, Sourafel and Holger Görg.
Productivity effects of processing and ordinary export market entry: A time-varying treatments approach, Review of International Economics, (2022) 30(3): 836–853 (DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/roie.12580) .

Aggarwal, Aradhna and Ari Kokko.
SEZs and Poverty Reduction: Evidence from Andhra Pradesh, India, International Journal of Emerging Markets, (2022) 17(8): 1793–1814 (DOI:https://doi.org/10.1108/IJOEM-03-2019-0234).

Resources

Free Zones World Economic Barometer

The Free Zones World Economic Barometer (F-WEB) is a sentiment indicator based on a quarterly survey among Special Economic Zone representatives conducted by the Kiel Institute for the Economy in collaboration with the World Free Zones Organization. Established in early 2018, it is designed to gauge the current momentum of economic activity in SEZs around the globe and give indication about future trends.

For more on the sentiment indicator and to access the F-WEB reports, please visit www.ifw-kiel.de/FWEB.

Prof. Holger Görg, Ph.D.

Research Group

International Trade and Investment