Foreign Direct Investment and Special Economic Zones in Latvia

The paper aims at providing insight into the effectiveness of Latvian special economic zones (SEZ) as a tool to attract foreign direct investment (FDI). The goal is accomplished through the statistical analysis of relevant data and the comparison with international examples to establish a point of reference. Countries of comparison are chosen by merit, in the form of widely acknowledged success stories regarding SEZ policy, and relative statistical similarity. The wider the pool of examples, the more conclusions can be drawn about the effectiveness of SEZ in various metrics. Based on the results, Latvian special economic zones have significantly underperformed when compared to every single example on the list. Research has been approbated in the Riga Technical University 58th International Scientific Conference “Scientific Conference on Economics and Entrepreneurship” (SCEE’2017).