Reports and Economic Impact Studies on Wal-Mart and Big Box Development

June 2008	Save Money, Live Better: a report on Walmart's state tax avoidance schemes. Published by Walmart Watch.
June 2008	Has Wal-Mart Buried Mom and Pop? Study by Andrea Dean and Russell Sobel of W. Virginia U.
Jan 2008	The Wal-Mart Effect: Poison or Antidote for Local Communities? A study by the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. (A thorough analysis of this study was posted by Economist's View blog.
Dec 2007	A Downward Push: The Impact of Wal-Mart Stores on Retail Wages and Benefits A study from U. Cal. Berkeley Labor Center (10 pp pdf)
Dec 2006	Wal-Mart and Social Capital. Produced by the American Agricultural Economics Association (8 pp pdf).
June 2006	Study by Economic Policy Institute Says Wal-Mart's Claimed Savings for Customers are Greatly Exaggerated (link is to text summary).
May 2006	Wal-Mart and Crime. A report on local impacts of stores by the anti-Wal-Mart group WakeUp Wal-Mart (29 pp pdf).
May 2006	Has Wal-Mart Buried Mom and Pop? The Impact of Wal-Mart on Self Employment and Small Establishments in the U. S. By Russell Sobel and Andrea Dean (35 pp pdf).
Jan 2006	The National Public Radio program Justice Talking interviewed a range of guests to discuss Wal-Mart. Transcripts and audio available.
Nov 2005	All ten papers presented at the Wal-Mart-sponsored Economic Impact Conference are indexed here.
Sept 2005	What Do We Know About Wal-Mart? Compiles latest data on the corporation's pay, benefits and compliance with laws, and compares to other retailers. New York data highlighted. (Brennan Center for Justice, 12 pp pdf).
Sept 2005	Wal-Mart and the Waltons: Self-Interested Philanthropy (Committee for Responsive Philanthropy, pdf).
June 2005	Assessment of the Direct, Indirect and Induced Economic Effects of Chain Stores on the Regional Economy of Cape Cod (FXM Associates, 17 pp pdf). Brief summary by New Rules linked here.
June 2005	NBC's Dateline investigated conditions in overseas factories that supply Wal-Mart and other retailers in this report (transcript and video clips available).
Apr 2005	Comparing Pay of Wal-Mart Executives to Workers (Institute for Policy Studies).
Nov 2004	PBS' Frontline produced the documentary "Is Wal-Mart Good for America?" and many informative articles to accompany it.
Oct 2004	Wal-Mart and County-Wide Poverty (16 pp. pdf) is a study produced by Penn State U.
Aug 2004	The Hidden Cost of Wal-Mart Jobs (16 pp. pdf). This study from the U. of California, Berkeley, Labor Center adds up costs to taxpayers that result from Wal-Mart employees needing various forms of welfare. Note that the Center is unabashedly pro-union. See also this Response to Criticisms by Wal-Mart and media coverage of the report.
May 2004	Shopping for Subsidies (65 pp. pdf) a report from Good Jobs First on more than $1 billion in subsidies to Wal-Mart from communities and states around the U.S. Press release (pdf).
Feb 2004	"Everyday Low Wages," (25 pp. pdf). A report by staff of U.S. Rep. George Miller and Democratic staff of the U.S. House Committee on Education and the Workforce.
Jan 2004	Supercenters and the Transformation of the Bay Area Grocery Industry: Issues, Trends, and Impacts. This study (108 pp. pdf) by the Bay Area Economic Forum has the most thorough data we've seen on wages, prices, and numerous other issues. Though the analysis is regional, most data is national.
Jan 2004	"Wal-Mart Supercenters, What's in Store for Southern California?" (45 pp. pdf) Released only with the client's (Wal-Mart) input and approval, this uniquely rosy report is suspect due to some glaring holes, such as ignoring employee benefits in its economic calculations.
Jan 2004	Job Creation or Destruction? Labor-Market Effects of Wal-Mart Expansion (34 pp. pdf) (U. of Missouri).
Oct 2003	"Final Report on Research for Big Box Retail/Superstore Ordinance," (61 pp. pdf) Pt 1; Pt. 2; Summary. Study by Rodino Associates, commissioned by the City of Los Angeles.
July 2001	A PBS special, "Store Wars," explored the battle over Wal-Mart's entry in a small town. Accompanying online resources include a teacher's guide for helping students evaluate the issue.
Sep 1999	The Impact of Big Box Grocers on Southern California is a study commissioned by the Orange County Business Council and performed by researchers at UCLA and UC, Irvine (119 pp. pdf).
Feb 1997	The Shils Report. This huge study from Dr. Edward Shils at U. of Pennsylvania's Wharton School has a wealth of information on big box retail impacts, predatory pricing, and much more.
1997	Impact of the Wal-Mart Phenomenon on Rural Communities (Dr. Ken Stone, U. of Iowa, 27 pp. pdf). Graph on page 14 is a stunning summary of how huge Wal-Mart's impact in rural America has been.

Web pages from the American Independent Business Alliance, the New Rules Project, and Walmart Watch link many other useful studies on Wal-Mart and big box retail. See also the bibliography here.

See all articles and resources on Wal-Mart.

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