Retail shocks and city structure

Maria Sanchez-Vidal

LSE Research Online Documents on Economics from London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library

Abstract: This paper evaluates the consequences of opening out-of-town big-boxes on the commercial structure of cities. I use a discontinuity in a commercial regulation in Spain that restricts the entry of big-box stores in municipalities of less than 10,000 inhabitants for the period 2003 to 2011. I then use this discontinuity as an instrument for the big-box opening. The results show that three years after the big-box opening, around 15% of the grocery stores in the municipality have disappeared. However, some of the empty commercial premises are taken by other new small retailers in other sectors. As a result, the total number of retail stores in the municipality remains unchanged. These results show that a retail shock in the suburbs does not necessarily empty the city center but can also change only the composition of its commercial activity.

Keywords: retail shocks; city structure; small stores; commercial activity (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J22 L81 R10 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 35 pages
Date: 2019-07
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-ure
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