Economic and social effects of export processing zones in Costa Rica - Working Paper No. 97

This paper has been prepared within the framework of a research project on analysing the employment effects of multinational enterprises (MNEs), coordinated and edited by Ann Harrison of the University of Berkeley and Kee Beom Kim of the Multinational Enterprises Programme of the ILO.The paper starts by providing an overview of the Costa Rican EPZ regime and proceeds to show that firms in EPZs have played an important role in: (a) reducing dependence on traditional exports; (b) providing export revenues; and (c) providing jobs, particularly to low-skilled women. In terms of the qualitative aspects of these EPZ jobs, the author provides some preliminary evidence suggesting that workers in these zones are on average paid more than workers outside of zones and that working conditions in zones are in general similar or better than those found in the rest of the economy.