This website uses cookies.

By clicking the "Accept" button or continuing to browse our site, you agree to first-party and session-only cookies being stored on your device to enhance site navigation and analyze site performance and traffic. For more information on our use of cookies, please see our Privacy Policy.

  1. Home
  2. Journals
  3. American Economic Journal: Economic Policy
  4. May 2015
  5. Can Tax Breaks Beat Geography? Lessons from the French Enterprise Zone Experience

Can Tax Breaks Beat Geography? Lessons from the French Enterprise Zone Experience

  • Anthony Briant
  • Miren Lafourcade
  • Benoît Schmutz
American Economic Journal: Economic Policy
vol. 7, no. 2, May 2015
(pp. 88-124)
Download Full Text PDF

Abstract

This paper shows that urban geography matters to the effectiveness of place-based policies, using the French enterprise zone program as a case study. Whereas this program created more jobs in spatially integrated neighborhoods, its impact on local wages was only visible in the more isolated ones. In addition, a focus on the average impact of the program would lead to the conclusion that it mostly succeeded in displacing preexisting firms, but a lower level of spatial isolation was a clear determinant of the decision to create new firms from scratch. (JEL H25, H32, L52, R32, R38)

Citation

Briant, Anthony, Miren Lafourcade, and Benoît Schmutz. 2015. "Can Tax Breaks Beat Geography? Lessons from the French Enterprise Zone Experience." American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, 7 (2): 88-124. DOI: 10.1257/pol.20120137

Additional Materials

JEL Classification

  • H25 Business Taxes and Subsidies including sales and value-added (VAT)
  • H32 Fiscal Policies and Behavior of Economic Agents: Firm
  • L52 Industrial Policy; Sectoral Planning Methods
  • R32 Other Spatial Production and Pricing Analysis
  • R38 Production Analysis and Firm Location: Government Policy
There are no comments for this article.
Login to Comment