Category Archives: Criticism
Oxnard: “California’s economic future rests on our ability to retain business and promote entrepreneurship.”
HCD has ranked all 15 applications for the new Enterprise Zones and the results have been with the Governor’s office since sometime last month. Presumably, they are waiting for the right moment to announce the four new zones. One of those applicants was the City of Oxnard in Ventura County. Bruce Stenslie, president and CEO [...]
More PPIC Debate
The Sacramento Bee‘s Dan Walters cites both the PPIC and USC studies and concludes that since serious people can reach different conclusions we should just forget the whole thing. Meanwhile, in the Modesto Bee, Bill Bassitt, CEO of the Stanislaus Economic Development and Workforce Alliance, writes that the Enterprise Zone is a success in Stanislaus [...]
Response to Negativity
Kathleen Robles, manager of the San Bernardino Enterprise Zone, had an Op-Ed published in The Press-Enterprise this week: I agree that California cannot afford to waste money on programs that do not work. However, contrary to claims made in The Press-Enterprise’s editorial “Tax-break waste” (Our Views, June 17), the state’s enterprise zone program has proven [...]
Sacramento Business Journal Examines PPIC Claims
The Sacramento Business Journal published an article in today’s edition examining the claims of the negative PPIC study contrasted with view of program proponents. Only an excerpt is available online: An enterprising expansion is in the works as three local agencies team up to add 40,000 acres of industrial property to a new, joint enterprise [...]
Assemblyman Perez on PPIC
I just received a press release issued by Assemblyman V. Manuel Perez addressing the PPIC study on Enterprise Zones: (SACRAMENTO) — Assemblymember V. Manuel Pérez (D-Coachella), Chair of the Assembly Committee on Jobs, Economic Development and the Economy, made the following statement today in response to the newly released report, “Do California’s Enterprise Zones Create [...]
PPIC Day
Today is the day PPIC (re)releases its report critical of the Enterprise Zone Program. PPIC is presenting the report at a couple of venues today in Sacramento. Some news publications reported on their press release: KPBS San Diego Visalia Times-Delta The Desert Sun The Central Valley Business Times, published an article explaining some of the [...]
What is the Purpose of the Enterprise Zone Program?
The Public Policy Institute of California is getting ready to re-release a report it did last year on the Enterprise Zones which will state, “The enterprise zone program, the state’s largest economic development effort, has failed to achieve its key goal: increasing jobs.” But how does the PPIC know that the “key goal” of the [...]
USC Study: “Government Programs Can Improve Local Labor Markets: Evidence from State Enterprise Zones, Federal Empowerment Zones and Federal Enterprise Communities”
I previously linked to a press release on the University of Southern California’s website describing a new study on Enterprise Zone programs that found a positive effect, “A new study by USC professors John Ham, Ayse Imrohoroglu and Charles Swenson reveals that these programs are indeed bright spots in areas lagging in economic development and [...]
Study Shows High Return on Investment for Chula Vista Enterprise Zone
Last month I found an article in La Prensa San Diego discussing the positive impact on the City of Chula Vista as a result of inclusion in the San Diego Enterprise Zone. That article was a preview of a new study conducted by the National University System Institute for Policy Research released on February 12. Here is a link [...]
USC Study Finds Enterprise Zones Work
This article is linked right on the front page of USC.edu: At a time when California is still trying to pass its budget, enterprise zone programs may be on the chopping block as lawmakers debate whether these programs are working. A new study by USC professors John Ham, Ayse Imrohoroglu and Charles Swenson reveals that [...]
LAO Repeats Call to Kill Enterprise Zones
The Legislative Analyst’s Office has just released a new report on revenue in the 2009-2010 budget. They basically repeat verbatim what we have seen from them in the past regarding the Enterprise Zone program: Background. State law provides targeted hiring credits, wage credits, credits for sales taxes paid on certain machinery, and other tax benefits [...]
“So-Called ‘enterprise zones’”
The recent negative report on EZs gets more play in this OC Register commentary. But why are Enterprise Zones now “so-called ‘enterprise zones’”?
More Reaction to Negative Report
Here are two more reactions to the recent negative report on EZs: From New University at UC Irvine. From the SiliconBeat Blog of the San Jose Mercury News.
More Reaction to Negative Report
Here is some more reaction to the recently published academic report that was critical of the EZ program.
Tax Analysts Article on NBER Study
The following article by John Buhl was published today by Tax Analysts, republished with permission: Tax incentives provided through California’s enterprise zone program — aimed at encouraging economic development in distressed areas — have not increased job growth, according to a new National Bureau of Economic Research working paper. “Do Enterprise Zones Create Jobs? Evidence [...]
