GW Work

 

Wal-Mart V.S. Supermarkets: Sales and Quality Impact of Wal-Mart on Supermarkets in Cities Open Access

In 2017, Wal-Mart’s employs 1% of U.S. workers. Its sales account for 2 % of the U.S. Gross Domestic Product. Wal-Mart as a company is not only consequential but also controversial. Wal-Mart “Supercenters” offers fresh food and beverages in addition to the usual discount products. Such deliberate strategies have implications for traditional food and beverage stores. This paper focuses on Wal-Mart Supercenters’ effects on the retail supermarket industry in Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSA). This paper explores the causal impact of Wal-Mart expansion on supermarkets food sales and supermarkets store quality. Estimation of econometric models reveals that, a 10% increase in Wal-Mart stores in a given city is expected to decrease the aggregate supermarkets sales by 1%. In addition to this sales effect, such a 10% growth in Wal-Mart stores raises the employment to sales ratio, an indicator for store quality, by 0.8%. In addition to making the supermarket industry more competitive and causing competitors to raise store quality better, Wal-Mart does not have a statistically significant impact on supermarket exit and job loss. My findings suggest that Wal-Mart lowers supermarket sales, increases supermarket quality, gives urban consumers more food shopping choices, and potentially offers more food employment opportunities.

Author Language Keyword Date created Type of Work Rights statement GW Unit Persistent URL
License

Notice to Authors

If you are the author of this work and you have any questions about the information on this page, please use the Contact form to get in touch with us.

Relationships

Items