DETERMINANTS OF SOCIO - ECONOMIC ALLURE OF SPECIAL ECONOMIC ZONES: A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW OF LITERATURE

Shashank Shende 1 and Dr. Mehal Pandya 2 . 1. Research Scholar, B.K.School of Professional and Management Studies, Gujarat University. 2. Associate Professor, B.K.School of Professional and Management Studies, Gujarat University. ...................................................................................................................... Manuscript Info Abstract ......................... ........................................................................ Manuscript History Received: 10 September 2019 Final Accepted: 12 October 2019 Published: November 2019

The impact of Systematic Literature Reviews on research study carried out on social and economic aspects of SEZs Internationally and in the Indian context The review of literature is structured around: conceptualisation of social and economic measures adopted by the Special Economic Zones globally and in Indian context during the period from 1980 till 2019. 17 studies supported that SEZs have provided impetus to country's economy, while 19 studies highlighted on the lack of social infrastructure. Need of Better working conditions and provision of other social measures like employee health, safety, education and recreational facilities. One conclusion on review of the literature is that the SEZs in developed nations like China and Poland, which have robust Infrastructure and structured policies are successful in meeting the goals of promoting economic growth and employee welfare. On the other hand developing nations like India have yet to put in place a systematic framework of land and labour law reforms. Other areas of concern are lack of social infrastructure and poor working conditions. The paper also discusses the relevant problems faced by the SEZs and highlights direction for future research.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………….... Introduction:-
Special Economic Zones (SEZs) are not of recent origin. In fact the first SEZ was set up in Brooklyn, New York in as early as 1937. The first SEZ in Europe was in Ireland in 1959, followed by Latin America (Colombia) in the mid-1960s and Asia (Kandla -India) in 1965. Thereafter SEZs proliferated in Kaoshing and other centres in China and across the globe including Africa. Now there are estimated to be more than 5400 SEZs spread across 146 countries and another 500 SEZs are in the pipeline.
Thus the notion of SEZs as a tool for furthering economic development is proved by the increasing numbers worldwide. Over the course of time the ownership pattern of SEZs has changed. Earlier SEZs were set up by Governments to encourage exports, in the course of time non government or private entities took the lead. In some cases the Public -Private -Partnership (PPP) model has been engaged.
In the context of India, legislation in April 2000 formalised the SEZ model getting in one umbrella both the previously existing zones and the new zones. Subsequently the SEZ Act in 2005 and the enactment of SEZ Rules in 2006 were notified to lay the legal framework of SEZs and their operation in India. Presently there are 351 notified SEZs out of which 232 are operational (multiproduct as well as sector specific) with more than 5100 units spread across the country.
Apparently as across the globe, the allure of SEZs in India, was to overcome infrastructural issues and complex business procedures linked to bureaucratic hassles/barriers. The SEZs were also the means to achieve economies of scale through cluster based approach. From the SEZs Act Five key objectives can be derived: 1. Generation of Additional Economic activity 2. Promotion of Exports of Goods and Services 3. Promotion of Investment from domestic and foreign sources 4. Creation of employment opportunities 5. Development of Infrastructural facilities It is felt that through osmotic effect, ideas and practices innovated in the SEZs can eventually seep and benefit the entire economy. The SEZ model has ushered in not only economic and infrastructural development but also social and environmental changes.

Objectives:-
This paper seeks to: 1. Summarise in critical fashion selected publications dated from 1980 till date in social and economy fields in SEZs 2. Identify and classify the key issues and questions in socio-economic areas 3. Link research interest in concerns of SEZs developer and stakeholders 4. Identify needs and opportunity for further investigation. 5. Suggest further directions for inquiry and an agenda. This paper is limited to selected literature on SEZs during the period 1980 to date. The scope is further narrowed down to the impacts of SEZs in social and economic areas. The study is carried out based on desk-based research from publicly available information sources.

Literature:
The Systematic Literature Review (SLR) on SEZs was carried out on articles published in reputed journals like International Journal of Science and Research (IJSR), International Journal of Human Resource Management, Asia-Pacific population journal. A few proceedings like Proceedings of the 2018 IEEE IEEM, 52nd Congress of the European Regional Science Association: "Regions in Motion -Breaking the Path", European Regional Science Association (ERSA), Louvain-la-Neuve Economies of regions learning network, International Growth Centre Policy and Working Papers were also covered under SLR. Detailed list is given for reference at the end of this paper.
The SLR is bifurcated in two phases. Phase I covers the initial period from 1980 till 2004 and from Phase II covers the period from 2005 till 2019 (after enactment of SEZ Act 2005). The bifurcation is in Indian context and reflects the change in socio-economic issues during the early stage and later stage.

Phase I (1980-2004)
It is observed that the literature in this period grappled with operational issues of SEZs and with the then prevailing social problems. Some of the social problems covered by the scholars concerned labours' rights or lack of same, women related issues related to wage disparities, working hours and conditions including provision of workers dormitory etc. Research in these areas was conducted by Abeywardene,JAlwis,ADJayasena,AJayaveera, SSanmugam,T(1994), Bhattacharya, Debapriya(1998) , Smith C(2003).
The literature also abounds with empirical studies in the form of surveys as well as case history studies. A few authors like Chen X (1987), Ding, Daniel Fields, Dail Akhtar, Syed 1997 made critical case studies. Other papers review on the rapid economic and demographic growth in Shenzhen especially on the concentration of various manufacturing units or clustering effect which had enormous benefits for women employment, growth in nominal and real wages and the best HRM practices. Remedio, E. M. (1996) studied and concluded that the working conditions, income levels, labour conditions etc. are relatively well settled in the EPZs in Philippines. Bhattacharya, Debapriya Rahman, Mustafizur (1999) et al paper makes a strong case for public sector allocation to stimulate women's engagement in the apparel sector, raise their productivity through training by the Private sector and ultimately improve their quality of life in Bangladesh.

Phase ii (2005-2019):
The SLRs of this period cover topics in strategic management and broader socio-economic issues. A few studies go beyond and cover matters like social sustainability, social infrastructure and social health including measures like establishment of hospitals, vocational schools and even an academy for fisheries. Topics of this nature are covered in papers such as those by Deni The SLR reveals that some of the main issues faced by SEZs in India are land acquisition and loss of income consequent to withdrawal of tax benefits. The SLR also highlights the fact that the regional disparity in terms of economic progress is accentuated by SEZs in addition to the fact that they draw on scarce water resources and adversely impact food security due to shifting of land used to farming to non-farming use. These and matters related to discrimination of marginalised community are covered in the studies by Nidheesh Hyun, Y.Ravi, S.-2017 found that SEZs did not only benefit firms located within, but had spill over effects, that got reflected at the aggregate level of a district. The study also supported the idea that SEZs drive a structural transformation of the economy away from informal sector production towards greater formality. interrelationship between the policies, industry requirements, infrastructure supporting facilities and urban and regional development. Shah, Deepak (2012) states that the SEZ policy announced by the Government of India in April 2000 aims at promoting exports of goods and services, investments from domestic and foreign sources, creation of employment opportunities, infrastructure facilities with emphasis on generating additional economic activity. There is however lack of a long-term strategy to counter the socioeconomic consequences of the policy.
Paul, Saumik Sarma, Vengadeshvaran(2013) identified and studied bridges (a significant knowledge gap) in the literature related to the welfare effect of industrialization especially for the less-privileged members of the society. Findings indicate the need for a policy framework to address SEZ related displacement, livelihood and gender issues. There is also the need for affirmative implementation of the policy framework by local administrative units.

Critical research issues:
It took a lot of effort to identify the key research issues in this relatively new field of enquiry. When economies adopt new changes in their policy or governance, they are bound to have a direct rapid impact on the economic, business and political conditions thus the importance of research agenda can shift quickly.  What are the possible improvement in supply chain management? 6. What efforts are being carried out to identify and upgrade local suppliers? 7. How can SEZ help in creating regional economic development? 8. Whether and how much government policy and governance assists in increasing production activity and thereby job creation? 9. Have SEZs given wider multiplier effects? 10. Have SEZs recorded success in adding indirect and induced job creation? 11. How far SEZs have contributed to wider economic and linked suppliers to main development? 12. Whether SEZs helped in creating Indirect /wider economy by way of employee's retail expenditure?
The Growth and Development of SEZs: 1. What are the factors which led down the slow growth of SEZ as compared to initial first five years after enactment of SEZs act? 2. Why SEZs in manufacturing and related activities were slow in progress as compared to IT/ITeS sectors? 3. What role the government can play in stimulating growth of SEZs in India? 4. How can SEZs become effective economic tool for the government? 5. Is government adopting any new measures for the unutilised land in the SEZs?
The social impact in SEZs: 1. Does the spatial concentration of zones around large cities, added to regional inequalities? 2. Had SEZs generated limited employment as targeted, given the relative importance of capital -intensive production?

Methodologies:-
Some of the authors used descriptive literature considering that this was an exploratory field. Other authors have collected data from primary sources through survey and questionnaire techniques. Some investigations were done using the Triangular method. An example is the work of Bhattacharya, Debapriya (1998). Bhattacharya, Debapriya Rahman, Mustafizur (1999) worked on Primary data on the RMG sector in Bangladesh, data were collected through micro-surveys and debriefing of key informants. In short most of the research leading to the formulation of academic theory building has happened at the intersection of: 1. Case study 2. Primary and Secondary Data and extrapolation thereof to business settings (eg location, demography, population) 3. Extrapolation of existing theories of economics and strategic marketing (eg resource allocation, infrastructure)

Analysis:
The author has carried out the systematic literature review of research papers as referenced at the end of the paper. The paper were categorised as shown in Table 1  The literature on SEZs is a result of quality work and displays a high level of scholastic thoroughness. The literature is the appropriate lynchpin for further doctoral research. Figure 2 details some of the untouched areas, ripe for potential research.

The Economic impact of SEZs
The increasing of SEZs globally are a testimony to the success achieved in fast tracking regional economic development with welcome creation of both local and non-local employment. It has also substantially contributed to indirect economy by way of employee's retail expenditure and through vendors for products and services with multiplier effect.

The Growth and Development of SEZs:
This is one area where there is scope for research in areas like Government policy, vacant land utilisation, new product and new service development. Some of these areas have been mentioned only in passing by the authors.

The social impact in SEZs:
The importance of social objectives is noted globally and the literature covers the positive impact especially in areas like employee skills enhancement, implementation of medical cover, extension of soft loans / finances for major expenditure like housing, to cope with natural disasters, in addition to the standard facilities like subsidised transportation, recreation centre, gymnasium, canteen facilities, crèche for kids, etc. The literature reveals that SEZs in India have however poorly performed in contributing toward social objectives.

The Socio-Cultural impact in SEZs:
The importance of socio-cultural factors is ripe for investigation.

Government and Ethics:
SEZs have poorly performed in environmental aspects in India; there is also the need and scope to study areas like corporate responsibility (CSR) and other government initiatives/schemes. Issues such as environmental sustainability will become increasingly important in coming years in order to comply with SDGs goal Agenda 2030 of UNCTAD.

Micro. Small and Medium Size business (MSME):
SEZs route presents a golden opportunity for the MSMEs in India to make a global mark. This will help not only in generating more direct / indirect employment but also market Brand India. MSMEs can leverage on the much vaunted characteristics of smaller firms i.e focussed business strategies, flexibility.

Organisational Change and SEZs:
The research in this area covers the management competencies required to developed, good HR practices, working styles and various quality development program to evaluate the productivity and efficiency of the employees. This essentially calls for a creative, collaborative and connected approach for collaborative working and principles for the designing of organisational structure in SEZs.

SEZs -Business model analysis:
This theme is of prime importance and a major concern to developers, stakeholders, lawmakers and private institutions. Studies in this area attempt to work out a sustainable business model for SEZs on examination of the existing model and global practices.

Opportunity Identification:
Some of the authors have done research studies to show the co-relation of job creation with diversified product / market segmentation and adoption of latest technology in SEZs. However, there is scope to study new areas of IT / ITeS technology, IOT, and the new generation technologies like Block Chain, Artificial Intelligence and Big Data Analytics relevant both for manufacturing and service sector SEZs.

Strategic reforms in SEZs:
Some of the topics covered by the studies in Strategic reforms are Technology dissemination, Skill and Know -how transfers, Industrial diversification and upgrading and enhanced regional economic cooperation. There appears to be a research gap in studies on E-commerce and new strategic management strategy relevant to SEZs.

Limitations / further scope of study:
This paper highlights the issues raised in the selected literature in the area of socio-economic impact of SEZs globally and in India in particular; it must be disclosed that the findings may be influenced to some degree by the author's personal experience and opinion.
The references cited at the end of this paper cover a wide range of publications; however there is definitely scope for many more research papers both in the areas already covered and in new areas.