Enterprise Zones: The Urban Jobs and Enterprise Zone Act of 1981

"Enterprise zones” as a concept originated in England in the late 1970s. The idea is to free specified urban areas of taxes and Government regulations to encourage private business investment and create new jobs. There is little in the way of direct empirical evidence to indicate whether and how such an approach would work. There is considerable interest in the concept, however, since other Federal urban assistance programs (such as Urban Renewal in the 1950s, Model Cities in the 1960s, and Urban Development Action Grant more recently -- since 1978) have not produced in sufficient amount the desired results in creating jobs for the unemployed in inner cities.