This article explores WalMart’s impact on the retail sector in the counties in which it is located, as well as in surrounding counties, by examining the number and size of retail outlets, by retail category. Using statewide data as well as a case study incorporating econometric modes, we...

Ken Stone conducted the first study of WalMart stores’ economic impact in Iowa in 1988. Since then, research on WalMart’s impacts has exploded. Recent studies employ sophisticated statistical techniques to more accurately measure the size and direction of effects. Many reach...

As the United States recovers from the worst economic crisis in 80 years, both environmental and economic epidemics are disproportionally affecting communities of color. The U.S. unemployment rate stands near 10%. Yet for African Americans in some areas, it is twice as high. Simultaneously, the...

This study, the first on the impact of a WalMart in a large city, draws on three annual surveys of enterprises within a four-mile radius of a new Chicago WalMart. It shows that the probability of going out of business was significantly higher for establishments close to that store. This...

The past decade has been one of the more turbulent in terms of the economic pressures felt by localities. Through three national-level surveys taken at five-year intervals over the previous decade, the authors examine changes in the use of economic development strategies employed by localities...

Using 2000 Census microdata for the Atlanta metropolitan area as a case study, this research investigates the effect of intrametropolitan opportunity structure and local area context, especially spatial structure, urban employment pattern, social environment, and ethnic concentration, on Asian...

This article reviews the literature that evaluates WalMart’s impacts on local economies. The authors first describe the methods used to account for potential reverse causality of WalMart’s store location decisions, and then they discuss the literature assessing the company’s...

This article focuses on four policies that a number of cities are using to make businesses more accountable for the development subsidies that they receive (cost–benefit analysis, effectiveness measurement, performance agreements, and clawback clauses). Using data from International City...

Despite the important role governors have played in shaping states’ economic development strategies, existing quantitative studies of state economic development policymaking have paid only scant attention to the factors that influence governors’ decisions about economic development...