UK Enterprise Zones and the Attraction of Inward Investment

Abstract

This paper assesses the contribution of inward investment to economic regeneration in UK Enterprise Zones using survey data from a government-sponsored national evaluation. Results indicate that by providing tax incentives and stimulating infrastructure improvements, policy attracted a group of inward investors that accounted for nearly one-third of employment in the zones at de-designation and a high proportion of new local jobs. The local impacts of inward investors are examined in terms of recruitment, linkages, growth and stability and compared with other establishments in the zones. It is concluded that inward investment can bean important driver of local economic regeneration in distressed areas when stimulated by this type of initiative, but that a mechanism is needed to limit short-distance transfer activity.

Transnational corporations and network effects of a local manufacturing cluster in mobile telecommunications equipment in China

“…Today, there are literally thousands of various development zones modeled after export-processing zones and free trade zones that were popular during the 1950s and the 1960s in developing countries. These development zones -also known as "enterprise zones" in the UK and the US (Potter and Moore, 2000;Yeung, 2004), and officially known in China as economic and technological development zones -gained a new lease of life in China from 1984 onwards, largely due to the prudent "gradually opening door" strategy implemented by the late patriarch Deng Xiaoping. Initially, they were designated by the central government as an "enclave" (or a pilot area) to attract foreign direct investment, to test the applicability of market economy, and to develop relatively advanced and export-oriented manufacturing activities at a time when the country was still a socialist central-planning economy.…”

From enterprise to empowerment: the evolution of an Anglo‐American approach to strategic urban economic regeneration

“…According to Potter and Moore (2000), Enterprise Zone policy in Britain had the aim of securing physical and economic regeneration in areas that were resistant to solution by market forces or traditional urban and regional policy instruments. The areas designated were typically small zones (up to 450 hectares) of vacant, unoccupied or deteriorating industrial land where tax concessions, reduced bureaucracy and public-sector infrastructure renewal were applied to leverage private sector resources.…”

“…Opponents of Enterprise Zones in the UK also suggested that the unemployed living near to zones might not benefit and the packages being offered would favour capitalintensive rather than job-creating firms (Potter and Moore, 2000). The same fears were From enterprise to empowerment 223 echoed in the USA, where many economists opposed the 'place-based' aspect of the Empowerment Zone programme.…”

Assessing the Value of Housing Schemes through Sustainable Return on Investment: A Path towards Sustainability-Led Evaluations?

“…The final evaluation of the original enterprise zones (EZs) was carried out in 1995 [38] and assessed the extent to which EZs had generated both additional economic activity and physical regeneration [39]. The evaluation methodology covered an analysis of data, which included annual monitoring data provided by the Department of the Environment, in combination with further data collected by consultants to quantify the additional economic activity generated.…”

“…Main factors analysed included employment characteristics, the number of firms established, industrial compositions of the firms within the zones, environmental improvements, and the impact on the local property markets [38]. The amount of jobs and costs per job created were highlighted, but the evaluation made a limited assessment of any inward investment into the zones [39]. Interviewers and postal surveys were sent out to local companies to gauge company perceptions of EZ benefits.…”