Urban Enterprise Zones

This book explores how policy ideas are spread--or diffused--in an age in which policymaking has become increasingly complex and specialized. Using the concept of enterprise zones as a case study in policy diffusion, Karen Mossberger compares the process of their adoption in Virginia, Indiana, Michigan, New York, and Massachusetts over a twelve-year period. Enterprise zones were first proposed by the Reagan administration as a supply-side effort to reenergize inner cities, and they were eventually embraced by liberals and conservatives alike. They are a compelling example of a policy idea that spread and evolved rapidly. Mossberger describes the information networks and decisionmaking processes in the five states, assessing whether enterprise zones spread opportunistically, as a mere fad, or whether well-informed deliberation preceded their adoption.

The concept of the enterprise zone - with its targeted tax and other incentives - is analyzed, and case studies are critiqued, in the comprehensive coverage of this volume. It presents the viewpoints of academics, government researchers and public officials concerned with economic and development policy as well as local government. A section is devoted to international comparisons, which includes a discussion of British enterprise zones.