Work

Do Local Economic Development Programs Work? Evidence from the Federal Empowerment Zone Program

Year: 2007

Type: preprint

Abstract: This paper evaluates the impact of Round I of the federal urban Empowerment Zone (EZ) program on neighborhood level labor and housing market outcomes over the period 1994-2000. Using four decades of Census data in conjunction with information on the proposed boundaries of rejected EZs, we find that neighborhoods receiving EZ designation experienced substantial improvements in labor market conditions and moderate increases in rents relative to rejected and future zones. These effects were accompanied by small changes in the demographic composition of the neighborhoods, though evidence from disaggregate Census tabulations suggests that these changes account for little of the observed improvements.

Source: RePEc: Research Papers in Economics

Authors: Matías Busso, Patrick Kline

Institutions: Inter-American Development Bank, University of California, Berkeley

Language: English

Topic: Urban, Neighborhood, and Segregation Studies

Subfield: Sociology and Political Science

Field: Social Sciences

Domain: Social Sciences

SDGs: Decent work and economic growth, No poverty, Sustainable cities and communities, Reduced inequalities

Open Access status: green

OpenAlex ID: W2105591841

Cites: 50

Cited by: 67

Related to: 10