The impacts of spatially targeted programmes: evidence from Guangdong

Spatially targeted policies have been a crucial component of the development strategy pursued by the Chinese government. This paper provides novel empirical evidence in the debate on place-based policy by testing whether the presence of economic development zones is associated with higher values of industrial output and their impact is heterogeneous across territories in the counties/districts in Guangdong province during the period 2000–14. The results show that the level of industrial output is positively correlated with the presence of economic development zones and offer support to the idea that place-based policies have heterogeneous effects across territories.