"A special economic zone (SEZ) conjures up many images, from a bonded warehouse district in a port to the fishing village of Shenzhen in the People’s Republic of China (PRC) that became a metropolis of 14 million people. The International Labour Organization’s database grew from 176 SEZs in 47 countries in 1986 to 3,500 SEZs in 130 countries 20 years later. Surveying the phenomenon, Farole and Akinci (2011, 3) provide a broad definition of SEZs as: demarcated geographic areas contained within a country’s national boundaries where the rules of business are different from those that prevail in the national territory. These differential rules principally deal with investment conditions, international trade and customs, taxation, and the regulatory environment; whereby the zone is given a business environment that is intended to be more liberal from a policy perspective and more effective from an administrative perspective than that of the national territory. SEZs have generated a large literature, much of which is inconclusive because there are many varieties of economic zones that have been called “special.” However, the wealth of accumulated case studies does offer some patterns. The initial emphasis on export promotion zones that operated as enclaves with little potential for dynamic growth has been largely displaced by a model in which the SEZ has physical, strategic, and financial links to the local economy. This development can be related to the growth of global value chains (GVCs), especially in East Asia, over the last 30–40 years. Multiuse development has often replaced the earlier narrow focus on manufacturing, with information and communication services playing a key role. The success of SEZs appears to be related to the infrastructure they provide (transport, reliable power supply, etc.) and streamlining of regulations, rather than to the tax and other financial incentives used to promote early SEZs. Finally, increasing numbers of SEZs are private, although some state-financed SEZs continue to be successful..."