Domestic trade costs imply more restricted access to consumption goods in small and remote cities. By eliminating the fixed costs of firm entry and reducing the effects of distance on trade costs, e-commerce can disproportionately improve these cities' access to varieties of consumption goods...

Prior to the invention of the Internet, shopping for goods was relatively simple: a consumer visited a brick-and-mortal retailer and selected a product from what was available or, for some retailers, shopped using a catalog. Today, a simple Internet search may return a bewildering number of...