Land Use Restrictions as Barriers to Entry

Land use restrictions can serve legitimate purposes, but also prevent entry and raise costs. Land use restrictions govern how land can be used and how uses can be changed. Land use restrictions are widespread. They affect a substantial volume of commerce, through zoning, planning rules, private contracts, location-specific rules and approval processes. The OECD Competition Committee debated competitive effects of land use restrictions in February 2008. This document includes an executive summary and the documents from the meeting: and analytical note by Mr. Sean F. Ennis for the OECD, written submissions from Belgium, the Czech Republic, Finland, Ireland, Italy, Korea, Poland, Russia, Chines Taipei, Turkey, the United Kingdom and the United States as well as an aide-memoire of the discussion.