Targeted Business Incentives and Local Labor Markets
利用德克萨斯州企业区划定的贫困率断点规则，研究发现该激励政策增加了居民就业，但主要集中在低薪行业，同时推高了房价。
This paper uses a regression discontinuity design to examine the effects of geographically targeted business incentives on local labor markets. Unlike elsewhere in the United States, enterprise zone (EZ) designations in Texas are determined in part by a cutoff rule based on census block group poverty rates. Exploiting this discontinuity as a source of quasi-experimental variation in investment and hiring incentives across areas, I find that EZ designation has a positive effect on resident employment, increasing opportunities mainly in lower-paying industries. While business sitings spurred by the program are more geographically diffuse, EZ designation is associated with increases in home values.