The Impact of Enterprise Zones on Resident Employment

This article examines whether the enterprise zone programs of California and Florida affected the employment probabilities of zone residents. To do this, the author develops a methodology for estimating the effects of programs in which selection for treatment occurs at the neighborhood level, whereas the determination of the outcome of interest occurs at the individual level. This methodology is a combination of individual-level employment probability models and neighborhood-level propensity score matching. Studying programs that provided especially strong incentives to hire disadvantaged workers, the author finds no evidence that these enterprise zones affected the employment of zone residents.