We described also in the last chapter the system of FTZs and the way it was reformed in
2009. While controversial, we hold that such a system is necessary to remain competitive
in certain sectors for which the terms of tax treatment are simply too heterogeneous across
countries. In Delgado and Trejos (2006) calculations of direct and indirect contributions to
taxation by one specific large firm in the FTZ system reach the conclusion that indirect
contribution (the extra payment that workers, service providers and owner of resources
make to the state because their income is more valuable than it would have been selling to
somebody else) is larger than tax exemption.