Further to recent postings (and from another list) - some new papers on
the effect of Wal-Mart.
Check out the latest issue of the American Journal of Agricultural
Economics ( Vol 88, no 5, 2006) for three articles on the effect of
Walmart on:
a) the human resource practices of other supermarkets (supermarket
practices are quite persistent--that is, HR practices don't change
rapidly--even in the face of external competition such as Walmart;
aggregate changes in employment practices in local areas happen when
firms close or open)
b) local food store sales (reduction of "growth of grocery sales by
nearly 17 percentage points within two years of entry" in
non-metropolitan markets, and 4 percent points in metropolitan markets,
with of course a larger dollar amount associated.
c) civic and social capital ("Walmart depresses social capital stocks in
local communities". read the paper for how social capital is defined
and measured, but the paper cautions against especially giving public
subsidies to the chain given that the negative externalities created by
the store and forcing the store to internalize these effects in its
decisionmaking.)
Best
Steve
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