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The Effect of Wal-Mart Supercenters on Grocery Prices in New England

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  • Richard J. Volpe III
  • Nathalie Lavoie

Abstract

The competitive price effect of Wal-Mart Supercenters on national brand and private label grocery prices in New England is examined. We use primary price data collected on several identical products from six Supercenters in Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Rhode Island and from conventional supermarkets. Taking into account demographics, store characteristics, and market conditions, we show that Wal-Mart decreases prices by 6 to 7% for national brand goods and by 3 to 8% for private label goods. Price decreases are most significant in the dry grocery and dairy departments. Moreover, Wal-Mart sets grocery prices significantly lower than its competitors.

Suggested Citation

  • Richard J. Volpe III & Nathalie Lavoie, 2008. "The Effect of Wal-Mart Supercenters on Grocery Prices in New England," Review of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 30(1), pages 4-26.
    • Handle: RePEc:oup:revage:v:30:y:2008:i:1:p:4-26.
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1111/j.1467-9353.2007.00389.x
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    1. Richard J. Volpe & Nathalie Lavoie, 2008. "The Effect of Wal-Mart Supercenters on Grocery Prices in New England," Review of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 30(1), pages 4-26.
    2. Khanna, Naveen & Tice, Sheri, 2000. "Strategic Responses of Incumbents to New Entry: The Effect of Ownership Structure, Capital Structure, and Focus," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 13(3), pages 749-779.
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    5. Volpe, Richard J., III & Lavoie, Nathalie, 2005. "The Effect of Wal-Mart Supercenters on Grocery Prices in New England," 2005 Annual meeting, July 24-27, Providence, RI 19188, American Agricultural Economics Association (New Name 2008: Agricultural and Applied Economics Association).
    6. Woo, Byung-Joon & Huang, Chung L. & Epperson, James E. & Cude, Brenda J., 2001. "Effect Of A New Wal-Mart Supercenter On Local Retail Food Prices," Journal of Food Distribution Research, Food Distribution Research Society, vol. 32(1), pages 1-9, March.
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    Cited by:

    1. Rebecca Cleary & Jean-Paul Chavas, 2022. "Strategic supermarket pricing of private labels and manufacturer brands," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 62(6), pages 2921-2950, June.
    2. Bonanno, Alessandro & Ghosh, Gaurav S., 2010. "SNAP Efficacy and Food Access – A Nationwide Spatial Analysis," 115th Joint EAAE/AAEA Seminar, September 15-17, 2010, Freising-Weihenstephan, Germany 116437, European Association of Agricultural Economists.
    3. Angela D. Liese & Xiaonan Ma & Brent Hutto & Patricia A. Sharpe & Bethany A. Bell & Sara Wilcox, 2017. "Food Shopping and Acquisition Behaviors in Relation to BMI among Residents of Low-Income Communities in South Carolina," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 14(9), pages 1-15, September.
    4. Hovhannisyan, Vardges & Stiegert, Kyle W., 2011. "Imperfect Competition between Milk Manufacturers and Retailers in a Midwestern State in the U.S," 2011 Annual Meeting, February 5-8, 2011, Corpus Christi, Texas 98844, Southern Agricultural Economics Association.
    5. Richard Volpe & Edward C Jaenicke & Lauren Chenarides, 2018. "Store Formats, Market Structure, and Consumers’ Food Shopping Decisions," Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 40(4), pages 672-694, December.
    6. Rebecca Cleary & Rigoberto Lopez, 2014. "Supermarket responses to Wal-Mart Supercenter expansion: a structural approach," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 47(3), pages 905-925, November.
    7. Meilin Ma & Tina L Saitone & Richard J Volpe & Richard J Sexton & Michelle Saksena & Craig GundersenEditor, 2019. "Market Concentration, Market Shares, and Retail Food Prices: Evidence from the U.S. Women, Infants, and Children Program," Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 41(3), pages 542-562.
    8. Tina L. Saitone & Richard J. Sexton, 2017. "Agri-food supply chain: evolution and performance with conflicting consumer and societal demands," European Review of Agricultural Economics, Oxford University Press and the European Agricultural and Applied Economics Publications Foundation, vol. 44(4), pages 634-657.
    9. Leibtag, Ephraim S. & Barker, Catherine & Dutko, Paula, 2010. "How Much Lower Are Prices at Discount Stores? An Examination of Retail Food Prices," Economic Research Report 96767, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
    10. Volpe, Richard J., III, 2011. "Evaluating the Performance of U.S. Supermarkets: Pricing Strategies, Competition from Hypermarkets, and Private Labels," Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Western Agricultural Economics Association, vol. 36(3), pages 1-16, December.
    11. Secor, William & Çakır, Metin, 2016. "Impacts from a retail grocery acquisition: Do national and store brand prices respond differently?," 2016 Annual Meeting, July 31-August 2, Boston, Massachusetts 235945, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    12. Bonanno, Alessandro, 2008. "An Empirical Investigation of Wal-Mart’s Expansion into Food Retailing," Research Reports 149931, University of Connecticut, Food Marketing Policy Center.
    13. Volpe, Richard & Kuhns, Annemarie & Jaenicke, Ted, 2017. "Store Formats and Patterns in Household Grocery Purchases," Economic Information Bulletin 256712, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
    14. P. J. Glandon & Matthew Jaremski, 2014. "Sales and Firm Entry: The Case of Wal‐Mart," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 81(1), pages 168-192, July.
    15. Todd, Jessica E. & Mancino, Lisa & Leibtag, Ephraim S. & Tripodo, Christina, 2010. "Methodology Behind Quarterly Food- at- Home Price Database," Technical Bulletins 184309, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
    16. Alessandro Bonanno, 2010. "An empirical investigation of Wal-Mart's expansion into food retailing," Agribusiness, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 26(2), pages 220-242.
    17. Richard Volpe, 2014. "Supercenters, Unionized Labor, and Performance in Food Retail," Industrial Relations: A Journal of Economy and Society, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 53(2), pages 325-355, April.
    18. Tiehen, Laura & Frazão, Elizabeth, 2016. "Where Do WIC Participants Redeem Their Food Benefits? An Analysis of WIC Food Dollar Redemption Patterns by Store Type," Economic Information Bulletin 262145, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
    19. Todd, Jessica E. & Mancino, Lisa & Leibtag, Ephraim S. & Tripodo, Christina, 2010. "Methodology Behind the Quarterly Food-at-Home Price Database," Technical Bulletins 97799, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
    20. Wang, Shinn-Shyr & Rojas, Christian & Lavoie, Nathalie, 2010. "Buyer Market Power and Vertically Differentiated Retailers," Working Paper Series 57165, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Department of Resource Economics.
    21. Bauner, Christoph & Wang, Emily, 2019. "The effect of competition on pricing and product positioning: Evidence from wholesale club entry," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 67(C).
    22. Rojas Christian & Lavoie Nathalie & Wang Shinn-Shyr, 2012. "Buyer Power and Vertically Differentiated Retailers," Journal of Agricultural & Food Industrial Organization, De Gruyter, vol. 10(1), pages 1-28, July.
    23. Volpe, Richard, 2011. "The Relationship Between National Brand and Private Label Food Products: Prices, Promotions, Recessions, and Recoveries," Economic Research Report 262234, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
    24. Alessandro Bonanno & Stephan J. Goetz, 2012. "WalMart and Local Economic Development," Economic Development Quarterly, , vol. 26(4), pages 285-297, November.
    25. Bonanno, Alessandro & Li, Jing, 2011. "Food Access and Food Security – An Empirical Analysis," 2011 Annual Meeting, July 24-26, 2011, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 103218, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.

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