The National Bureau of Economic Research has published a new paper by David Neumark, Professor of Economics at the University of California, Irvine, and Jed Kolko of the Public Policy Institute of California.  The paper can be downloaded here (there is a $5.00 charge for the the 53 page PDF).

I am currently reading it carefully and will endeavor to offer comments.  In the mean time the paper’s abstract follows:

We use new establishment-level data and geographic mapping methods to improve upon evaluations of the effectiveness of state enterprise zones, focusing on California’s program. Because zone boundaries do not follow census tracts or zip codes, we created digitized maps of original zone boundaries and later expansions. We combine these maps with geocoded observations on most businesses located in California. The evidence indicates that enterprise zones do not increase employment. We also find no shift of employment toward the lower-wage workers or manufacturing sector targeted by enterprise zone incentives. We conclude that the program is ineffective in achieving its primary goals.