Delineation of special economic zones using integer linear programming

Abstract

The Special Economic Zones (SEZs) are delimited geographic areas located within the borders of a country with the objective of impulsing the local economy of a specific region. The SEZs have multiple labor and fiscal benefits that allow them to enhance the economic level of the region through the generation of quality jobs, export growth, government investment, and technology transfer, just to name a few. China and other countries have demonstrated the benefits of SEZs and the economic impact on the local region. The goal of this article proposes a methodology based on Integer Linear Programming to generate SEZs where the population of the region, the distance and travel time between municipalities, the infrastructure of the region, and the Federal Laws imposed by the governments are considered. Experimental results based on real instances of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, México, validate the method and enable a graphical visualization of the solution.

Keywords

• special economic zones
• integer linear programming
• mathematical modeling