RESTRICTIVE LAND COVENANTS

Even though land-use convenants are a pervasive feature in residential land markets, they are typically subsumed into the economist's pictur e of zoning and related land-use regulation. In contrast to the tradit ional approach, the premise of this study is that land covenants diffe r from zoning in important respects. This study examines the character istics of covenants as an institution and why it exists as a distinct method of private control in land markets. The approach taken here emp hasizes the role of credible commitment in explaining why covenants di ffer from both zoning and private contracts among individuals. The pap er also examines why covenants tend to vary spatially within urban are as, presenting two theories to evaluate the evidence from an urban hou sing market.