Working Paper #807
Place-Based Policies for Development
Gilles Duranton · Anthony J. Venables
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 are difficult to appraise and evaluate. This paper sets out a framework for analysing the effects of such policies and for assessing their social value. It then reviews the literature on place-based policies in the contexts of transport improvements, economic corridors, special economic zones, lagging regions, and urban policies.