Exclusionary Zoning and Fiscal Health: An Analysis of Municipal Bonds
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Graduate group
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restrictive zoning
municipal bonds
city financing
WRLURI
credit enhancement
bond ratings
Business
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Abstract
This thesis explores the intersection between finance and public policy in municipalities. The factor of interest is restrictive zoning and considering whether communities with more restrictive zoning practices will lead to worsened municipal bond market outcomes. The negative consequences and history of exclusionary zoning are provided, as well as a brief overview of the municipal bond market and outcome variables. The analysis is then conducted on county-level data that has average community-level restrictiveness via the Wharton Residential Land Use Regulatory Index (WRLURI) as well as demographic controls as independent variables, and bond market outcomes as dependent variables. The analysis found that in models with fewer inputs, the WRLURI has a significant negative relationship on municipal bond yield and credit enhancement, but as additional factors were added this significance faded. For bond ratings, the analysis found no significance. This provides some descriptive evidence that exclusionary zoning could contribute to lower levels of risk in municipal finance but is inconclusive and the relationships weaken with added controls.