Monday, October 23, 2006
Glaeser and Ward on Land Use Regulation
Edward L. Glaeser (Harvard - Kennedy School) and Bryce Adam Ward (Harvard University) have posted The Causes and Consequences of Land Use Regulation: Evidence from Greater Boston on SSRN. Here's the abstract:
Over the past 30 years, eastern Massachusetts has seen a remarkable combination of rising home prices and declining supply of new homes. The reductions in new supply don't appear to reflect a real lack of land, but instead reflect a response to man-made restrictions on development. In this paper, we examine the land-use regulations in greater Boston. There has been a large increase in the number of new regulations, which differ widely over space. Few variables, other than historical density and abundant recreational water, reliably predict these regulations. High lot sizes and other regulations are associated with less construction. The regulations boost prices by decreasing density, but density levels seem far too low to maximize total land value.
Ben Barros
[Comments are held for approval, so there will be some delay in posting]
https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/property/2006/10/glaeser_and_war.html
Tomorrow's Christian Science Monitor carries an article about anti-Kelo referenda in various states. The author is critical of Oregon's law allowing compensation for regulations that allegedly reduce value.
Posted by: John Rooney | Oct 24, 2006 5:06:10 PM