Using Alabama county data from 1980 and 1990 censuses and store opening dates, this paper presents an econometric study of the impact of the presence of Wal-Mart on black-white income and unemployment differentials. It is posited that Wal-Mart changes the competitive nature of the labor market...

This paper tests the impact of Wal-Mart discount and superstore presence on the number of small businesses in Iowa counties from 1989-2003. I employ and compare two well-known identification strategies in a spatial autoregressive model. I find no statistically meaningful impact of Wal-Mart on...

This paper examines the retail trade sector in 55 West Virginia counties from 1989 through 1998. A time-space recursive model evaluates the impact of the entrance of Wal-Mart stores in the county and in adjacent counties. This paper differs from earlier research in that it controls for...