Entry Barriers in Retail Trade

Fabiano Schivardi and Eliana Viviano

No 1003, Working Papers CELEG from Dipartimento di Economia e Finanza, LUISS Guido Carli

Abstract: The 1998 reform of the Italian retail trade sector delegated the regulation of entry of large stores to the regional governments. We use the local variation in regulation to determine the effects of entry barriers on sectoral performance. We address the endogeneity of entry barriers through local fixed e ects and using political variables as instruments. We also control for differences in trends and for area-wide shocks. We find that entry barriers are associated with substantially larger profit margins and lower productivity of incumbent firms. Liberalizing entry has a positive effect on investment in ICT, increases employment and compresses labor costs in large shops. In areas with more stringent entry regulation, lower productivity coupled with larger margins results in higher consumer prices.

Keywords: entry barriers; productivity growth; retail trade. (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: L11 L5 L81 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2010
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (10)

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Related works:
Journal Article: Entry Barriers in Retail Trade (2011)
Working Paper: Entry Barriers in Retail Trade (2009)
Working Paper: Entry Barriers in Retail Trade (2008)
Working Paper: Entry Barriers in Retail Trade (2008)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:lui:celegw:1003

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