UC Berkeley

Housing costs have grown substantially for United States households over the last several decades, and research has identified low rates of housing production as a major cause of this increase. In this dissertation, I first examine the role that race has played in the passage of residential land use regulations designed to curb residential growth, and in the effects of these regulations on housing production. I find that cities that were Whiter than their surrounding metropolitan area were significantly more likely to pass residential growth restrictions, consistent with theories that residential growth restrictions spread in the United States in the post-Civil Rights era as a way for residents of predominantly White cities to enforce racial residential segregation. However, I find no evidence that residential land use regulations have a stronger effect on housing supply. Finally, I demonstrate that rising house prices widen White-Black wealth gaps, due to White-Black gaps in both homeownership and house values. This dissertation contributes to a growing literature in the social sciences that identifies how housing policy in the United States has perpetuated various forms of racial inequality.