2018/11/19 by Hans Koster, Hans R.A. Koster, Fang Fang Cheng +4 · 40 citations
Economics, Econometrics and Finance · Social Sciences · #Business #China #Displacement (psychology) #Economic geography #Economic growth #Economics #Fiscal Policy and Economic Growth #Geography #Identification (biology) #Natural resource economics #Productivity #Regional Economics and Spatial Analysis #Science park #Total factor productivity #Urban Transport and Accessibility
paper · pdf · doi:10.1111/jors.12415
published in Journal of Regional Science 59(2), 187-213 (Wiley)
openalex publication_date 2018/11/19 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/01
Abstract Developing and transitional countries devote considerable funds to selected areas to stimulate local growth and firm productivity. We examine the impact of place‐based interventions due to the opening of science parks in Shenzhen, China, on firm productivity and factor use. Our identification strategy, exploiting spatial and temporal differencing in firm‐level data, addresses the issues that (a) the selection of science park locations is not random and (b) high‐productivity firms sort themselves into science parks. Firm productivity is approximately 15–25% higher due to the science park policy. The policy also increases local wages and leads to distortions due to job displacement.