Journal Article
Place-based Policies and Household Wealth in Africa
Journal of Development Economics, 176: 103482
Authors
Publication Date
DOI
JEL Classification
F6
F21
O15
O25
Key Words
Related Topics
Africa
Emerging Markets & Developing Countries
Equal Opportunities
Growth
Labor Market
Migration
This paper provides novel evidence on the impact of a prominent place-based policy - Special Economic Zones (SEZs) - on the economic well-being of African households. Exploiting time variation in SEZ establishment on a dataset of repeated cross-sections of households in 10 African countries during 1990-2020, we show that households living near SEZs become wealthier relative to the national average after SEZ establishment. The effect accrues mostly within 10 km of SEZs, is not driven by selective migration, and is accompanied by improved access to household utilities, higher consumption of durable goods, increased educational attainment and a shift away from agricultural activities.
