Quantifying land-use regulation and its determinants.

This article focuses on analyzing land-use regulation across Swiss municipalities by constructing the CRED Land-Use Restrictiveness Index (CLURI), which aggregates multiple sub-indices capturing the regulatory process, rules, and outcomes related to residential development. The study finds significant variation in land-use regulation stringency influenced by historical building density, natural amenities, socio-demographic and cultural factors, political preferences, and municipal competition, with more competition linked to less regulation. Stricter land-use regulation correlates with higher house price increases and reduced urban sprawl, although a substantial portion of regulatory variation remains unexplained. The CLURI provides a harmonized, comprehensive measure of local regulatory environments in Switzerland, offering a valuable tool for further empirical research on the political economy and welfare effects of land-use constraints.