What Determines the Heterogeneous Performance of Special Economic Zones? Evidence from Sub‐Sahara Africa

Douglas Zhihua Zeng

Global Policy, 2022, vol. 13, issue 4, 495-506

Abstract: As a policy tool for development, special economic zones (SEZs) are rapidly proliferating globally, mainly due to the new industrialization wave and competition for FDIs. However, their performance is quite mixed. What drives their heterogeneous performance? This paper intends to define a ‘quality framework’ for SEZs based on the key drivers for their success, and validates its effectiveness in a quantitative way through a ‘quality‐performance’ matrix using thirteen SEZ cases in Sub‐Sahara Africa. The research identifies seven key drivers and derives a ‘quality score’ for each zone based on its level at each driver. The score is then used to map with the zone's performance (mainly the jobs and investments in this paper). The regression result shows that the ‘quality’ of a SEZ is highly correlated with its ‘performance’, which provides important empirical evidence for effective SEZ policies. Based on this research, the paper also offers some key policy lessons.

Date: 2022
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