The Regional Impact of Special Economic Zones in the Philippines.

Scott R. Sanders, Cornell University
David L. Brown, Cornell University

In the mid 1990’s the Filipino government adopted a new development policy centered on foreign investment. To help solicit new investments, the government created the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA). PEZA’s main duties include creating and managing the operation of the Special Economic Zones (SEZ) throughout the country and helping to attract business and foreign direct investments to SEZ. Between 1995 and 2005 PEZA approved over 200 new SEZ which have directly created over three million jobs throughout the Philippines. However, the areas with high numbers of job created within SEZ have also reported a dramatic increase in unemployment rates. The rising unemployment coupled with an increase in total population in these areas suggests that migration is occurring. This paper uses a modified Harris-Todaro and GIS software to spatially identify and map the areas with a propensity for migration and to help assess the regional impact of SEZ.