Infographic | Do place-based policies provide real opportunities for the residents of low-income neighborhoods? | M. Garrouste and M. Lafourcade

This infographic shows the negative and stigmatizing effects of implementing policies based on a “priority geography” in the field of education. It is based on the work of Manon Garrouste, maître de conférences at the Université de Lille, and Miren Lafourcade, researcher at the Paris School of Economics.

To combat socio-economic disparities within cities, political decision-makers have been implementing policies based on “priority geography” for more than forty years.
In France, for example, these policies have led to the creation of “urban free zones” to attract businesses to “priority” neighborhoods and encourage job creation.
In education, “Programmes de réussite éducative” (educational success programs) have been set up, with the aim of reinforcing equality of opportunity between pupils and preventing school drop-out.

What are the consequences of these policies? Why do they sometimes have negative effects? What can be done about it?

Manon Garrouste is maître de conférences at the Université de Lille and is currently a visiting fellow at the Paris School of Economics. Her research focuses on the economics of education and urban economics, with an emphasis on the evaluation of public policies.

Miren Lafourcade is professor of economics at the Université Paris-Saclay, and an associate researcher at the Paris School of Economics and at the CEPR. Her main research area is geographic and urban economics. She is particularly interested in the effects of transport systems on spatial inequalities and housing prices.

Read more

• Briant A., Lafourcade M. & Schmutz B., 2015, "Can tax breaks beat geography? Lessons from the French enterprise zone experience», American Economic Journal: Applied Economic, Policy 7(2), pp 88-124.

• Davezies L. & Garrouste M., 2020, “More harm than good?: Sorting effects in a compensatory education program”, Journal of Human Resources, 55(1), pp 240–277.

• Neumark D. & Simpson H., 2015, “Place-Based Policies”, In Duranton G., Henderson J. V. and Strange W. C.(Eds.), Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics, Volume 5, pp 1197-1287.

* This infographic is part of Economics for everybody.