A Review of Regulatory Barriers to Employer Ability to Recruit and Retain Employees

While the impacts of residential development regulations and of economic growth on housing markets have been studied extensively, the impact of housing supply on labor markets and local economic growth (other than the direct effect of construction-related jobs) has not. Moreover, only one paper traces the influence of development regulations on housing outcomes through to labor outcomes at the metropolitan level (Saks 2005). In light of this fact, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) commissioned a review of the literature on the influences of residential development regulation on housing markets, and through them, on businesses, labor markets, and regional economic competitiveness.