The Impact of New Jersey's Urban Enterprise Zones on Local Employment: A Synthetic Control Approach

IF 1.7 4区经济学 Q3 DEVELOPMENT STUDIES

Economic Development Quarterly Pub Date : 2023-03-09 DOI:10.1177/08912424231158051

Adam Scavette

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引用次数: 1

Abstract

The designation of enterprise zones is a place-based policy that seeks to revitalize economically blighted areas. The literature on place-based policies has found mixed results regarding their effects on local payroll employment. This paper examines the causal effects of five of New Jersey's Urban Enterprise Zones (UEZs) on local payroll employment: Bayonne, Gloucester City, New Brunswick, Roselle Borough, and The Wildwoods (Wildwood City, Wildwood Crest, North Wildwood, and West Wildwood). All were designated as UEZs by the state in the 2000s, and none have been previously evaluated in the academic literature. The program offers reduced local sales tax, tax credits for newly hired employees, subsidized unemployment insurance costs, worker training assistance, and tax-free purchases on capital equipment and facilities. A synthetic control approach is used with the industrial composition of local firms and poverty rate as the covariate group and no impact of UEZ status on local employment in the treatment periods of the five areas is found. These results suggest that enterprise zones may not be effective job creators for treated areas, particularly for those zones that were added long after the program's inception.

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新泽西州城市企业区对当地就业的影响：一种综合控制方法

指定企业区是一项基于地方的政策，旨在振兴经济萧条地区。关于地方政策的文献发现，这些政策对当地工资就业的影响喜忧参半。本文研究了新泽西州五个城市企业区（UEZ）对当地工资就业的因果影响：巴约讷、格洛斯特市、新不伦瑞克、罗塞尔自治市和怀尔德伍德（怀尔德伍德市、怀尔德伍德山脊、北怀尔德伍德和西怀尔德伍德）。2000年代，所有这些都被国家指定为UEZ，之前没有在学术文献中进行过评估。该计划提供降低的当地销售税、新雇佣员工的税收抵免、补贴失业保险费用、工人培训援助以及资本设备和设施的免税购买。采用综合控制方法，以当地企业的产业构成和贫困率为协变量组，在五个地区的治疗期内，未发现UEZ状况对当地就业的影响。这些结果表明，企业区域可能不是治疗区域的有效就业创造者，尤其是那些在项目启动后很长时间才增加的区域。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Economic Development Quarterly Multiple-

CiteScore

2.20

自引率

13.30%

发文量

期刊介绍： Economic development—jobs, income, and community prosperity—is a continuing challenge to modern society. To meet this challenge, economic developers must use imagination and common sense, coupled with the tools of public and private finance, politics, planning, micro- and macroeconomics, engineering, and real estate. In short, the art of economic development must be supported by the science of research. And only one journal—Economic Development Quarterly: The Journal of American Economic Revitalization (EDQ)—effectively bridges the gap between academics, policy makers, and practitioners and links the various economic development communities.