Place-Based Policies: Principles and Developing Country Applications

Abstract

Many development policies, such as placement of infrastructure or local economic development schemes, are “place-based.” Such policies are generally intended to stimulate private sector investment and economic growth in the treated place, and as such they are difficult to appraise and evaluate. This chapter sets the rationale for place-based policies and a framework for analyzing their effects and assessing their social value. It then reviews the literature on placebased policies in the contexts of special economic zones, transport policy, lagging regions, and local economic development policies.