Warding Off Development: Local Control, Housing Supply, and NIMBYs

Abstract Local control of land-use regulation creates a not-in-my-backyard (NIMBY) problem that can suppress housing construction, contributing to rising prices and potentially slowing economic growth. I study how increased local affects production by exploiting common electoral reform—changing from “at-large” “ward” elections for town council. These reforms, which are not typically motivated markets, shrink each representative's constituency the entire one ward. Results variety difference-in-differences estimators show this decentralization decreases units permitted 20%, with similar effects on multi- single-family permits. Effects larger in whiter higher-income towns.