Abstract: Using the data of 2014 and 2016 China Family Panel Studies, this paper empirically investigates the effect, heterogeneity and mechanism of Special Economic Zones(SEZ) policies, as typical place-based policies in China, on local employment matching quality. The results indicate that:first, the employment shock brought by the establishment of SEZ significantly reduced the employment mismatch for local areas and SEZ significantly improved the employment matching degree of the county by 19% as far as average education years are concerned; second, SEZ had a more significant effect on improving the employment matching quality of female workers, young workers and highly educated workers; third, SEZ improved the employment matching quality and alleviated the structural contradiction of employment market by expanding the scale of employment market, adjusting industrial structure, increasing the demand for professional skills, and providing more promotion opportunities for younger workers. Based on the above findings and the employment situation under the impact of COVID-19, this paper suggests that relevant departments should implement supportive policies to encourage self-employment, promote industrial structure escalation dominated by "digital economy + new infrastructure" and improve employment quality by strengthening industry-university-research cooperation and accelerating talent cultivation in universities and colleges.

Key words: place-based policies, SEZ policies, employment matching, employment quality, scale effect, industrial structure impact