Consumer benefits from increased competition in shopping outlets
Subtitle: measuring the effect of Wal-Mart
By: Jerry Hausman, Ephraim Leibtag.
Contributors: Leibtag, Ephraim.; National Bureau of Economic Research.
Series: NBER working paper paper series -- no. 11809.; Working paper series (National Bureau of Economic Research) -- working paper no. 11809.
Publisher: National Bureau of Economic Research
Published: 2005
Place of publication: Cambridge, Mass
Language: eng
Number of pages: 32
Subjects: Wal-Mart (Firm); Retail trade -- United States
Description: "Consumers often benefit from increased competition in differentiated product settings.  In this paper we consider consumer benefits from increased competition in a differentiated product setting: the spread of non-traditional retail outlets.  In this paper we estimate consumer benefits from supercenter entry and expansion into markets for food.  We estimate a discrete choice model for household shopping choice of supercenters and traditional outlets for food.  We have panel data for households so we can follow their shopping patterns over time and allow for a fixed effect in their shopping behavior.  We find the benefits to be substantial, both in terms of food expenditure and in terms of overall consumer expenditure.  Low income households benefit the most"--National Bureau of Economic Research web site.
Notes: "December 2005."

Includes bibliographical references (p. 31-32).

Also available in PDF from the NBER world wide web site (www.nber.org).