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Firm Entry and Wages: Impact of Wal-Mart Growth on Earnings Throughout the Retail Sector

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  • Dube, Arindrajit
  • Lester, T. William
  • Eidlin, Barry

Abstract

This paper estimates the effect of Wal-Mart expansion on wages, benefits, and skill-composition of retail workers during the 1990s. We exploit the spatial pattern of Wal-Mart diffusion, radiating outward from the original store in Benton county, Arkansas, to control for potential endogeneity in store openings using both instrumental variable and control function approaches. Estimates from state and county level data suggest that store openings reduced both the average earnings and health benefits of retail workers. At the county level, a new Wal-Mart is found to reduce retail earnings, on average, by .5 to .9 percent. Moreover, we find that changes in skill-composition explain only a small part of compensation reduction, indicating that the decline in retail wages reflect a reduction in labor market rents.

Suggested Citation

  • Dube, Arindrajit & Lester, T. William & Eidlin, Barry, 2007. "Firm Entry and Wages: Impact of Wal-Mart Growth on Earnings Throughout the Retail Sector," Institute for Research on Labor and Employment, Working Paper Series qt22s5k4pv, Institute of Industrial Relations, UC Berkeley.
    • Handle: RePEc:cdl:indrel:qt22s5k4pv
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    6. Stephan J. Goetz & Hema Swaminathan, 2006. "Wal‐Mart and County‐Wide Poverty," Social Science Quarterly, Southwestern Social Science Association, vol. 87(2), pages 211-226, June.
    7. Elizabeth Davis & Matthew Freedman & Julia Lane & Brian McCall & Nicole Nestoriak & Timothy Park, "undated". "Product Market Competition and Human Resource Practices: An Analysis of the Retail Food Sector," Working Papers 0905, Human Resources and Labor Studies, University of Minnesota (Twin Cities Campus).
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    10. Hicks, Michael J. & Wilburn, Kristy L., 2001. "The Regional Impact of Wal-Mart Entrance: A Panel Study of the Retail Trade Sector in West Virginia," The Review of Regional Studies, Southern Regional Science Association, vol. 31(3), pages 305-313, Winter.
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    Cited by:

    1. Charles Courtemanche & Art Carden & Xilin Zhou & Murugi Ndirangu, 2019. "Do Walmart Supercenters Improve Food Security?," Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 41(2), pages 177-198, June.
    2. Fabiano Schivardi & Eliana Viviano, 2011. "Entry Barriers in Retail Trade," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 121(551), pages 145-170, March.
    3. Alessandro Bonanno & Rigoberto A. Lopez, 2008. "Wal-Mart’s Monopsony Power in Local Labor Markets," Food Marketing Policy Center Research Reports 103, University of Connecticut, Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Charles J. Zwick Center for Food and Resource Policy.
    4. Charles Courtemanche & Art Carden, 2014. "Competing with Costco and Sam's Club: Warehouse Club Entry and Grocery Prices," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 80(3), pages 565-585, January.
    5. 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.
    6. 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.
    7. Artz, Georgeanne M. & Stone, Kenneth E., 2012. "Revisiting Wal-Mart's Impact on Iowa Small Town Retail: Twenty-Five Years Later," Staff General Research Papers Archive 37646, Iowa State University, Department of Economics.
    8. Majumdar, Sumit K., 2015. "Competitor entry impact on jobs and wages in incumbent firms: retrospective evidence from a natural experiment," Business and Politics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 17(2), pages 291-326, August.
    9. Art Carden & Charles Courtemanche & Jeremy Meiners, 2009. "Does Wal-Mart reduce social capital?," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 138(1), pages 109-136, January.
    10. Niklas Rudholm & Yujiao Li & Kenneth Carling, 2022. "How does big-box retail entry affect labor productivity in durable goods retailing? A synthetic control approach," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 69(1), pages 89-117, August.
    11. Bonanno, Alessandro & Lopez, Rigoberto A., 2009. "Is Wal-Mart a Monopsony? Evidence from Local Labor Markets," 2009 Conference, August 16-22, 2009, Beijing, China 51289, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    12. Courtemanche, Charles & Carden, Art, 2011. "Supersizing supercenters? The impact of Walmart Supercenters on body mass index and obesity," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 69(2), pages 165-181, March.
    13. Rudholm, Niklas & Li, Yuijao & Kenneth, Carling, 2018. "How Does Big-Box Entry Affect Labor Productivity in Durable Goods Retailing? A Synthetic Control Approach," HUI Working Papers 130, HUI Research.
    14. Stapp, Jacob, 2014. "The Walmart Effect: Labor Market Implications in Rural and Urban Counties," SS-AAEA Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 2014, pages 1-17.
    15. Srikanth Paruchuri & Joel A. C. Baum & David Potere, 2009. "The Wal‐Mart Effect: Wave of Destruction or Creative Destruction?," Economic Geography, Clark University, vol. 85(2), pages 209-236, April.
    16. Alessandro Bonanno & Stephan J. Goetz, 2012. "WalMart and Local Economic Development," Economic Development Quarterly, , vol. 26(4), pages 285-297, November.
    17. Courtemanche, Charles & Carden, Art, 2009. "The skinny on big box retailing: Wal-Mart, warehouse clubs, and obesity," MPRA Paper 25326, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    18. repec:rre:publsh:v:38:y:2008:i:1:p:8-28 is not listed on IDEAS
    19. Bonanno, Alessandro & Lopez, Rigoberto A., 2012. "Wal-Mart's monopsony power in metro and non-metro labor markets," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 42(4), pages 569-579.
    20. Cho, Clare & Volpe, Richard, 2017. "Independent Grocery Stores in the Changing Landscape of the U.S. Food Retail Industry," Economic Research Report 265463, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.

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