Political economy of special economic zones location in Poland

Aim/purpose – This article’s main objective is to empirically assess the role of political representation in determining the spatial location of SEZs in Poland in the late 1990s. In particular, we test the main hypothesis, postulating that the location of SEZs was more likely to occur in regions with a stronger political representation of the ruling party. Design/methodology/approach – To study the role of political representation in deter- mining the location of SEZs in Poland in the 1995-1997 period, we use statistical data for the former 49 Polish regions and estimate the probit model with and without control- ling for a number of regional characteristics. Findings – We found that the political representation variable was an important deter- minant of the location of the SEZs in Poland. In particular, our estimation results showed that the likelihood of the SEZ location in a specific region was positively affected by a stronger political representation of the ruling party in that region. Research implications/limitations – The study’s main limitation is its focus on a single country only: Poland. Originality/value/contribution – This is the first empirical study devoted to the role of political representation in the location of SEZs in general and in Poland in particular. Keywords: lobbying, Poland, political economy, special economic zones. JEL Classification: D72, R12.