This paper evaluates the causal relationship between economic and development zones (EDZs) and the productivity of a large sample of incumbent firms in China. I take into account possible different selection mechanisms across two popular types of EDZs – economic and technological development...

This paper investigates the relationship between industry relatedness and firm productivity and the role of firms' absorptive capacity in moderating that relationship. The results reveal a positive relationship between industry relatedness and firm productivity and that the relationship is...

This paper examines the ability of place-based policies in China to foster agglomeration economies via Marshallian-based externalities that are expected to arise due to the reduction in transports costs associated with supplier-buyer linkages, labor pooling and knowledge spillovers. Empirically,...

This paper examines the impact of economic and development zones (EDZs) on the productivity of incumbent firms in China. To deal with the selection issue, I first take into account potentially different selection mechanisms across two popular types of EDZs – economic and technological...