The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 allowed governors of the fifty states to designate low-income areas as a “Qualified Opportunity Zone” (QOZ), which entitled the investors in these QOZs to significant tax incentives. As a result, each governor’s designation of QOZs provided an opportunity for the governor to introduce investments in low-income communities that would, in principle, increase economic opportunities in these areas. At the same time, each governor’s decision also provided an opportunity for the governor to reward political allies, to buy voter support, and to help business interests. Which of these many factors influenced the designation of QOZs? In this paper we estimate the impact of economic and political variables on the governors’ decisions to choose which areas among all eligible areas would receive QOZ status and which would not. We find that the QOZ selection process overall seems to have been relatively technocratic, with many of the strongest factors that determine QOZ designation being indicators of economic distress such as higher rates of unemployment, welfare receipt, or lower median income, all of which are consistent with the presumed goals of QOZs. Even so, we also find that political factors are significant in QOZ designation, with Democratic representation being negatively associated with QOZ nomination and with political representation by a local politician of the same party as the governor being positively associated with QOZ nomination. Of some note, we also find that areas with higher college attainment are favored.

2017 年的《减税和就业法案》允许 50 个州的州长将低收入地区指定为“合格机会区”（QOZ），这使这些 QOZ 的投资者享有重大的税收优惠。因此，每位州长对 QOZ 的指定为州长提供了在低收入社区进行投资的机会，这些投资原则上会增加这些地区的经济机会。同时，每位州长的决定也为州长奖励政治盟友、购买选民支持、帮助商业利益提供了机会。在众多因素中，哪些因素影响了 QOZ 的指定？在本文中，我们估计了经济和政治变量对州长在所有符合条件的地区中选择哪些地区将获得 QOZ 地位的决定的影响。我们发现 QOZ 的选择过程总体上似乎是相对技术官僚的，许多决定 QOZ 指定的最强因素是经济困境的指标，例如较高的失业率、福利收入或较低的收入中位数，所有这些都是一致的与 QOZ 的假定目标。即便如此，我们也发现政治因素在 QOZ 指定中很重要，民主党代表与 QOZ 提名呈负相关，与州长同一政党的当地政治家的政治代表与 QOZ 提名正相关。值得注意的是，我们还发现大学学历较高的领域受到青睐。许多最重要的因素决定 QOZ 指定是经济困境的指标，例如较高的失业率、福利收入或较低的收入中位数，所有这些都与 QOZ 的假定目标一致。即便如此，我们也发现政治因素在 QOZ 指定中很重要，民主党代表与 QOZ 提名呈负相关，与州长同一政党的当地政治家的政治代表与 QOZ 提名正相关。值得注意的是，我们还发现大学学历较高的领域受到青睐。许多最重要的因素决定 QOZ 指定是经济困境的指标，例如较高的失业率、福利收入或较低的收入中位数，所有这些都与 QOZ 的假定目标一致。即便如此，我们也发现政治因素在 QOZ 指定中很重要，民主党代表与 QOZ 提名呈负相关，与州长同一政党的当地政治家的政治代表与 QOZ 提名正相关。值得注意的是，我们还发现大学学历较高的领域受到青睐。我们还发现政治因素在 QOZ 指定中很重要，民主党代表与 QOZ 提名呈负相关，与州长同一政党的当地政治家的政治代表与 QOZ 提名正相关。值得注意的是，我们还发现大学学历较高的领域受到青睐。我们还发现政治因素在 QOZ 指定中很重要，民主党代表与 QOZ 提名呈负相关，与州长同一政党的当地政治家的政治代表与 QOZ 提名正相关。值得注意的是，我们还发现大学学历较高的领域受到青睐。