Enterprise zones and employment: Evidence from New Jersey

This paper presents new evidence on the effectiveness of urban enterprise zones as an economic development tool. The results reported here are from an econometric analysis of the New Jersey urban enterprise zone program using data at the municipal level from 1982 to 1990. We find no evidence that the urban enterprise zone program in New Jersey had a positive effect on total municipal employment, on employment in various sectors, or on municipal property values. We conclude that the program was ineffective in achieving its goal of improving the economic conditions in and around the zones. (C) 1996 Academic Press, Inc.