This study examines the socioeconomic impact of Special Economic Zones (SEZs) in Cambodia—a prominent place-based policy established in 2005. The paper employs a database on existing and future SEZs in Cambodia with matched household surveys at the district level and documents stylized facts on SEZs in a low-income country setting. To identify the causal effects of the SEZ program, the paper (i) constructs an alternative control group including future SEZ program participants and districts adjacent to SEZ hosts; and (ii) employs a propensity score weighting technique. The study finds that entry of SEZs increases employment and leads to a decline in income inequality at a district level. Gains in female employment is the key channel explaining rising employment rates. The paper also finds that school drop-out rates are higher in districts with clusters of multiple SEZs.

中文翻译：

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经济特区的社会经济影响：来自柬埔寨的证据

本研究探讨了柬埔寨经济特区 (SEZ) 的社会经济影响，这是 2005 年制定的一项重要的地方政策。本文采用了柬埔寨现有和未来经济特区的数据库，并在地区一级进行了匹配的家庭调查，并记录了程式化的事实关于低收入国家经济特区的研究。为了确定经济特区计划的因果影响，本文 (i) 构建了一个替代对照组，包括未来经济特区计划参与者和经济特区东道国附近的地区；(ii) 采用倾向得分加权技术。研究发现，经济特区的进入增加了就业，并导致地区一级的收入不平等现象减少。女性就业的增加是解释就业率上升的关键渠道。该论文还发现，多个经济特区聚集的地区的辍学率较高。