Prague Economic Papers 2021, 30(1):61-89 | DOI: 10.18267/j.pep.763

Why do Some Special Economic Zones Attract More Firms than Others? Panel Data Analysis of Polish Special Economic Zones

Piotr Ciżkowicz ORCID...a, Magda Ciżkowicz-Pękałaa, Piotr Pękałaa, Andrzej Rzońcaa
a Warsaw School of Economics, Warszaw, Poland

Using a unique firm-level data for Polish Special Economic Zones (SEZ) to estimate a set of panel data models we find that both employment and investment growth in SEZ are driven mainly by labour market characteristics of zone-hosting regions, while other factors (including market access, zone business climate and firms' concentration) play a less important role. Firms choose their locations based on labour availability rather than on labour costs. Moreover, they pay particular attention to availability of low-skilled rather than high-skilled labour. As far as tax incentives are concerned, their predictability matters more for SEZ development than their generosity.

Keywords: Special economic zones, regional economic development, economic policy tools, panel data models
JEL classification: C21, H25, H32, R30

Received: November 25, 2019; Revised: July 1, 2020; Accepted: September 21, 2020; Prepublished online: December 9, 2020; Published: February 4, 2021  Show citation

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Ciżkowicz, P., Ciżkowicz-Pękała, M., Pękała, P., & Rzońca, A. (2021). Why do Some Special Economic Zones Attract More Firms than Others? Panel Data Analysis of Polish Special Economic Zones. Prague Economic Papers, 30(1), 61-89. doi: 10.18267/j.pep.763
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