Evolution of special economic zones in the world economy

Igor Karachev

EVOLUTION OF SPECIAL ECONOMIC ZONES IN THE WORLD ECONOMY Evolution of special economic zones in the world economy

АА Аа

Published in Theoretical economics · Issue 9 · Pages 90–102 · Rubric: MODERN PROBLEMS OF THE WORLD ECONOMY

Received: 10.08.2023 Accepted: 24.08.2023 Published: 02.05.2024

Authors

Igor Karachev

ORCID

Igor Karachev

Academic degree: candidate of economic sciences

Science rang: docent

Yaroslavl State University Yaroslavl

ORCID

ABSTRACT

Today, there are almost 5,700 special economic zones in the world, of which more than 1,000 have been established in the last 10 years. The rapid growth of special economic zones was part of a new wave of industrial policy and a response to the growing competition for affordable international investment. The economic and political objectives of the zones vary from country to country. In some countries, the role of zones is to provide tariff concessions and reduce the administrative burden of customs procedures to support complex cross-border supply chains. In other countries, the main objective of zonal policy is to diversify and modernize industries by attracting foreign direct investment. The specialization of particular zones depends on their historical context. The article marks out the main stages of evolution of special economic zones, presents their characteristics, and also identifies structural and typological features of zones at each stage. The first stage relates to the development of trade zones, which have had the advantage of reducing customs barriers to export and import activities. The second stage relates to the development of industrial zones that have stimulated the creation of new productions within their borders. In the third stage there were developed technology zones with preferential treatment focused on high technology creation and commercialization. The fourth stage is characterized by the development of cross-border zones, the nature of which was at the intersection of two concepts: the zonal and the regional economic integration.

KEYWORDS

special economic zone; typological evolution; trade zone; industrial production zone; service zone; high-technology zone; integrated zone; cross-border zone

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