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Do Walmart Supercenters Improve Food Security?

Author

Listed:
  • Charles J. Courtemanche
  • Art Carden
  • Murugi Ndirangu
  • Xilin Zhou

Abstract

This paper examines the effect of Walmart Supercenters, which lower food prices and expand food availability, on household and child food insecurity. Our food insecurity-related outcomes come from the 2001-2012 waves of the December Current Population Study Food Security Supplement. Using narrow geographic identifiers available in the restricted version of these data, we compute the distance between each household’s census tract of residence and the nearest Walmart Supercenter. We estimate instrumental variables models that leverage the predictable geographic expansion patterns of Walmart Supercenters outward from Walmart’s corporate headquarters. Results suggest that closer proximity to a Walmart Supercenter improves the food security of households and children, as measured by number of affirmative responses to a food insecurity questionnaire and an indicator for food insecurity. The effects are largest among low-income households and children, but are also sizeable for middle-income children.

Suggested Citation

  • Charles J. Courtemanche & Art Carden & Murugi Ndirangu & Xilin Zhou, 2018. "Do Walmart Supercenters Improve Food Security?," NBER Working Papers 24750, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:24750
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    Cited by:

    1. Parke Wilde & Mehreen Ismail & Michele Ver Ploeg, 2021. "The Quality of the Food Retail Environment When Consumers May Be Mobile," Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 43(2), pages 701-715, June.
    2. Metin Çakır & Qingxiao Li & Xiaoli Yang, 2021. "COVID‐19 and fresh produce markets in the United States and China," Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 43(1), pages 341-354, March.
    3. Craig Gundersen & Monica Hake & Adam Dewey & Emily Engelhard, 2021. "Food Insecurity during COVID‐19," Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 43(1), pages 153-161, March.
    4. Craig Gundersen, 2019. "The Right to Food in the United States: The Role of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 101(5), pages 1328-1336, October.
    5. repec:ags:aaea22:335581 is not listed on IDEAS
    6. Metin Çakır & Joseph V. Balagtas & Abigail M. Okrent & Mariana Urbina‐Ramirez, 2021. "Effects of Package Size on Household Food Purchases," Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 43(2), pages 781-801, June.
    7. Fitzpatrick, Katie & Greenhalgh-Stanley, Nadia & Ver Ploeg, Michele, 2019. "Food deserts and diet-related health outcomes of the elderly," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 87(C), pages 1-1.
    8. Md Nazmul Hossain & Md Saiful Islam & S M Abdullah & Syed Mahbubul Alam & Rumana Huque, 2023. "Vegetables and fruits retailers in two urban areas of Bangladesh: Disruption due to COVID– 19 and implications for NCDs," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 18(1), pages 1-14, January.
    9. Kathryn M. Cardarelli & Emily DeWitt & Rachel Gillespie & Nathan Bandy & Heather Norman-Burgdolf, 2024. "Enduring Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Food Access, Nutrition, and Well-Being in Rural Appalachia," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 21(5), pages 1-11, May.
    10. Dorfman, Jeffrey H. & Grant, Jared D. & Gundersen, Craig G., 2023. "Moving Toward a Continuous Local Food Access Measure," 2023 Annual Meeting, July 23-25, Washington D.C. 335581, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    11. Lauren Chenarides & Alessandro Bonanno & Anne Palmer, 2021. "If You Build Them… Will it Matter? Food Stores' Presence and Perceived Barriers to Purchasing Healthy Foods in the Northeastern U.S," Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 43(3), pages 1076-1100, September.
    12. Manuel Camilo Quesada Jiménez, 2026. "¿Descuento duro a la inseguridad alimentaria? Ara, D1 y Justo & Bueno en Bogotá [Hard Discount to Food Insecurity? Ara, D1 and Justo & Bueno in Bogota]," Documentos CEDE 2026-3, Universidad de los Andes, Facultad de Economía, CEDE.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • I12 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health Behavior
    • I14 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health and Inequality
    • Q18 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Agriculture - - - Agricultural Policy; Food Policy; Animal Welfare Policy

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