Special Economic Zones and Human Capital Investment: 30 Years of Evidence from China

Fangwen Lu, Weizeng Sun and Jianfeng Wu ()

American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, 2023, vol. 15, issue 3, 35-64

Abstract: By exploiting the large quantity and rich variety of special economic zones (SEZs) in China, this study investigates how such zones affect human capital investment. Results show that SEZs significantly increase the local high school enrollment rate, but the impact varies across zone types: technology-oriented zones encourage education, while export-led zones discourage it. The increased job opportunities and wage premiums inside SEZs for employees with high school education increase high school enrollment, while such opportunities and wages for employees with middle school education decrease enrollment. A very small portion of the impact, if any, can be attributed to increased income.

JEL-codes: I21 I26 J24 J31 O15 P23 R32 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (8)

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DOI: 10.1257/pol.20200492

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