1932

Abstract

The rise and expansion of large retail firms mark a significant shift in economic organization across communities in the United States. In this article, we describe this shift and discuss implications for local economic structure and community well-being. We present theoretical perspectives on the concentration of productive resources and review findings from empirical studies linking retail-sector concentration to wages, jobs, and small firms as well as a host of community well-being outcomes, such as poverty, civic participation, health, and crime. Although most scholarly and public attention to this issue has focused on understanding impacts of Walmart in particular, our review seeks to highlight more general processes of rationalization, concentration, and a changing industrial structure. We conclude with a critique and directions for future research.

Loading

Article metrics loading...

/content/journals/10.1146/annurev-soc-073018-022449
2019-07-30
2024-03-28
Loading full text...

Full text loading...

/deliver/fulltext/soc/45/1/annurev-soc-073018-022449.html?itemId=/content/journals/10.1146/annurev-soc-073018-022449&mimeType=html&fmt=ahah

Literature Cited

  1. Artz GM, Stone KE. 2006. Analyzing the impact of Walmart supercenters on local food store sales. Am. J. Agric. Econ. 88:51296–303
    [Google Scholar]
  2. Autor D, Dorn D, Katz LF, Patterson C, Van Reenen J 2017a. Concentrating on the fall of the labor share. Am. Econ. Rev. 107:5180–85
    [Google Scholar]
  3. Autor D, Dorn D, Katz LF, Patterson C, Van Reenen J 2017b. The fall of the labor share and the rise of superstar firms NBER Work. Pap 23396
  4. Basker E. 2005. Job creation or destruction? Labor market effects of Walmart expansion. Rev. Econ. Stat. 87:1174–83
    [Google Scholar]
  5. Basker E. 2007. The causes and consequences of Walmart's growth. J. Econ. Perspect. 21:3177–98
    [Google Scholar]
  6. Basker E, Klimek S, Van PH 2012. Supersize it: the growth of retail chains and the rise of the “big box” store. J. Econ. Manag. Strategy 21:3541–82
    [Google Scholar]
  7. Basker E, Noel M. 2009. The evolving food chain: competitive effects of Wal-Mart's entry into the supermarket industry. J. Econ. Manag. Strategy 18:4977–1009
    [Google Scholar]
  8. Bekiempis V. 2014. The rebirth of the shopping mall. Newsweek Mag June 5. https://www.newsweek.com/2014/06/13/rebirth-shopping-mall-253441.html
    [Google Scholar]
  9. Blanchard TC, Irwin M, Tolbert CM, Lyson T, Nucci A 2003. Suburban sprawl, regional diffusion, and the fate of small retailers in a large retail environment, 1977–1996. Sociol. Focus 36:4313–31
    [Google Scholar]
  10. Blanchard TC, Matthews TL. 2006. The configuration of local economic power and civic participation in the global economy. Soc. Forces 84:2241–57
    [Google Scholar]
  11. Blanchard TC, Tolbert CM, Mencken C 2012. The health and wealth of US counties: how the small business environment impacts alternative measures of development. Camb. J. Reg. Econ. Soc. 5:1149–62
    [Google Scholar]
  12. Bluestone B, Harrison B. 1982. The Deindustrialization of America New York: Basic
  13. Bonanno A, Goetz SJ. 2012a. Food store density, nutrition education, eating habits and obesity. Int. Food Agribus. Manag. Rev. 15:41–26
    [Google Scholar]
  14. Bonanno A, Goetz SJ. 2012b. Walmart and local economic development: a survey. Econ. Dev. Q. 26:285–97
    [Google Scholar]
  15. Bonanno A, Li J. 2015. Food insecurity and food access in U.S. metropolitan areas. Appl. Econ. Perspect. Policy 37:2177–204
    [Google Scholar]
  16. Bonanno A, Lopez RA. 2012. Walmart's monopsony power in metro and non-metro labor markets. Reg. Sci. Urban Econ. 42:569–79
    [Google Scholar]
  17. Boyd DW. 1997. From “mom and pop” to Walmart: the impact of the Consumer Goods Pricing Act of 1975 on the retail sector in the United States. J. Econ. Issues 31:223–32
    [Google Scholar]
  18. Browning CR, Byron RA, Calder C, Krivo LJ, Kwan M et al. 2010. Commercial density, residential concentration, and crime: land use patterns and violence in neighborhood context. J. Res. Crime Delinq. 47:329–57
    [Google Scholar]
  19. Brunn SD. 2006. Walmart World: the World's Biggest Corporation in the Global Economy New York: Routledge
  20. Burawoy M. 1979. Manufacturing Consent: Changes in the Labor Process Under Monopoly Capitalism Chicago: Univ. Chicago Press
  21. Carden A, Courtemanche C, Meiners J 2009. Does Walmart reduce social capital. Public Choice 138:1109–36
    [Google Scholar]
  22. Chandler AD Jr 1962. Strategy and Structure: Chapters in the History of the American Enterprise Cambridge, MA: MIT Press
  23. Chandler AD Jr 1977. The Visible Hand: The Managerial Revolution in American Business Cambridge, MA: Harvard Univ. Press
  24. Cohen LE, Felson M. 1979. Social change and crime rate trends: a routine activity approach. Am. Sociol. Rev. 44:588–608
    [Google Scholar]
  25. Corbett E. 2018. Amazon sends ‘anti-union’ training video to Whole Foods team leaders: report. Fortune Sept. 26. http://fortune.com/2018/09/26/amazon-anti-union-video-whole-foods
    [Google Scholar]
  26. Courtemanche C, Carden A. 2011. Supersizing supercenters? The impact of Walmart supercenters on body mass index and obesity. J. Urban Econ. 69:165–81
    [Google Scholar]
  27. Crutchfield RD. 1989. Labor stratification and violent crime. Soc. Forces 68:489–512
    [Google Scholar]
  28. Deller S, Deller M. 2012. Spatial heterogeneity, social capital, and rural larceny and burglary. Rural Sociol 77:2225–53
    [Google Scholar]
  29. DePillis L. 2016. What happens to a tiny town when Walmart disappears?. Washington Post Feb. 5. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2016/02/05/what-happens-to-a-tiny-town-when-walmart-disappears
    [Google Scholar]
  30. Dube A, Jacobs K. 2004. Hidden costs of Walmart jobs Brief. Pap., Univ. Calif. Berkeley Labor Cent Berkeley, CA: http://laborcenter.berkeley.edu/pdf/2004/walmart.pdf
  31. Dube A, Lester TW, Eidlin B 2007. Firm entry and wages: impact of Walmart growth on earnings throughout the retail sector Work. Pap. 126-05, Inst. Res. Labor Employ., Univ. Calif Berkeley: http://www.irle.berkeley.edu/files/2005/Firm-Entry-and-Wages.pdf
  32. Edwards R. 1979. Contested Terrain New York: Basic
  33. Ellickson PB, Grieco PLE. 2013. Walmart and the geography of grocery retailing. J. Urban Econ. 75:1–14
    [Google Scholar]
  34. Ficano CC. 2013. Business churn and the retail giant: establishment birth and death from Wal-Mart's entry. Soc. Sci. Q. 94:263–91
    [Google Scholar]
  35. Fishman C. 2006. The Walmart Effect New York: Penguin
  36. Foster L, Haltiwanger J, Krizan CJ 2006. Market selection, reallocation, and restructuring in the U.S. retail trade sector in the 1990s. Rev. Econ. Stat. 88:4748–58
    [Google Scholar]
  37. Freedman EA, McConnon JC, Hunt GL, Gabe TM 2016. An analysis of the economic impacts of big-box stores on a community's retail sector: evidence from Maine. J. Reg. Anal. Policy 46:2138–53
    [Google Scholar]
  38. Friedman AL. 1977. Industry and Labour: Class Struggle at Work and Monopoly Capitalism London: Macmillan
  39. Friedman M. 2016. Wal-Mart faces more damages in wage case. Arkansas Business Dec. 5 27
    [Google Scholar]
  40. Gereffi G, Christian M. 2009. The impacts of Wal-Mart: the rise and consequences of the world's dominant retailer. Annu. Rev. Sociol. 35:573–91
    [Google Scholar]
  41. Goetz SJ, Rupasingha A. 2006. Wal-Mart and social capital. Am. J. Agric. Econ. 88:1304–10
    [Google Scholar]
  42. Goetz SJ, Rupasingha A, Loveridge S 2012. Social capital, religion, Walmart, and hate groups in America. Soc. Sci. Q. 93:2379–93
    [Google Scholar]
  43. Goetz SJ, Swaminathan H. 2006. Walmart and county-wide poverty. Soc. Sci. Q. 87:211–26
    [Google Scholar]
  44. Goldschmidt W. 1978 (1947). As You Sow: Three Studies in the Social Consequences of Agribusiness Montclair, NJ: Allanheld, Osmun
  45. Graff TO. 2006. Unequal competition among chains of supercenters: Kmart, Target, and Wal-Mart. Prof. Geogr. 58:154–64
    [Google Scholar]
  46. Halebsky S. 2009. Small Towns and Big Business Lanham, MD: Lexington
  47. Haltiwanger JC, Jarmin RS, Krizan CJ 2010. Mom-and-pop meet big-box: complements or substitutes. J. Urban Econ. 67:116–34
    [Google Scholar]
  48. Hausman J, Leibtag E. 2007. Consumer benefits from increased competition in shopping outlets: measuring the effect of Wal-Mart. J. Appl. Econ. 22:1157–77
    [Google Scholar]
  49. Hess DJ. 2009. Localist Movements in a Global Economy: Sustainability, Justice, and Urban Development in the United States Cambridge, MA: MIT Press
  50. Hicks MJ. 2007. Job turnover and wages in the retail sector: the influence of Wal-Mart. J. Priv. Enterp. 22:2137–59
    [Google Scholar]
  51. Hicks MJ. 2008. Estimating Wal-Mart's impacts in Maryland: a test of identification strategies and endogeneity tests. East. Econ. J. 34:156–73
    [Google Scholar]
  52. Hicks MJ. 2009. Wal-Mart and small business: boon or bane?. Rev. Reg. Stud. 39:173–83
    [Google Scholar]
  53. Hicks MJ. 2015. Does Wal-Mart cause an increase in anti-poverty expenditures. Soc. Sci. Q. 96:1136–52
    [Google Scholar]
  54. Hicks MJ, Keil SR, Spector LC 2012. Mom-and-pops or big box stores: some evidence of WalMart impact on retail trade. Econ. Dev. Q. 26:311–20
    [Google Scholar]
  55. Hicks MJ, Wilburn KL. 2001. The regional impact of Wal-Mart entrance: a panel study of the retail trade sector in West Virginia. Rev. Reg. Stud. 31:3305–13
    [Google Scholar]
  56. Hing BO. 2007. Immigration policy: thinking outside the (big) box. Conn. Law Rev. 39:1401–41
    [Google Scholar]
  57. Hochschild AR. 1983. The Managed Heart: Commercialization of Human Feeling Berkeley: Univ. Calif. Press
  58. Hollister MN. 2004. Does firm size matter anymore? The new economy and firm size wage effects. Am. Sociol. Rev. 69:659–79
    [Google Scholar]
  59. Ikeler P. 2016. Hard Sell: Work and Resistance in Retail Chains Ithaca, NY: Cornell Univ. Press
  60. Ingram P, Yue LQ, Rao H 2010. Trouble in store: probes, protests, and store openings by Wal-Mart, 1998–2007. Am. J Sociol. 116:53–92
    [Google Scholar]
  61. Irwin M, Tolbert CM, Lyson TA 1999. There's no place like home: nonmigration and civic engagement. Environ. Plan. A Econ. Space 31:2223–38
    [Google Scholar]
  62. Irwin M, Blanchard T, Tolbert C, Nucci A, Lyson T 2004. Why people stay: the impact of community context on nonmigration in the USA. Population 59:567–92
    [Google Scholar]
  63. Jacobs K, Perry IE, MacGillvary J 2015. The high public cost of low wages: Poverty-level wages cost U.S. taxpayers $152.8 billion each year in public support for working families Res. Brief, Univ. Calif. Berkeley Cent. Labor Res. Educ Berkeley, CA: http://laborcenter.berkeley.edu/pdf/2015/the-high-public-cost-of-low-wages.pdf
  64. Jia P. 2008. What happens when Wal-Mart comes to town: an empirical analysis of the discount retailing industry. Econometrica 76:1263–316
    [Google Scholar]
  65. Kalleberg AL. 2011. Good Jobs, Bad Jobs: The Rise of Polarized and Precarious Employment Systems in the United States, 1970s to 2000s New York: Russell Sage Found.
  66. Kalleberg AL, Van Buren ME 1996. Is bigger better? Explaining the relationship between organization size and job rewards. Am. Sociol. Rev. 61:47–66
    [Google Scholar]
  67. Kandel W, Parrado EA. 2005. Restructuring of the U.S. meat processing industry and new Hispanic migrant destinations. Popul. Dev. Rev. 31:447–71
    [Google Scholar]
  68. Kubrin CE, Squires GD, Graves SM 2011. Does fringe banking exacerbate neighborhood crime rates? Investigating the social ecology of payday lending. Criminol. Public Policy 10:437–66
    [Google Scholar]
  69. Kubrin CE, Weitzer R. 2003. New directions in social disorganization theory. J. Res. Crime Delinq. 40:374–402
    [Google Scholar]
  70. Lee G. 2017. Why 90 percent of sales still happen in brick and mortar stores. Retail Technology Review Oct. 17. https://www.retailtechnologyreview.com/articles/2017/10/17/why-90-percent-of-sales-still-happen-in-brick-and-mortar-stores/
    [Google Scholar]
  71. Lee MR. 2008. Civic community in the hinterland: toward a theory of rural social structure and violence. Criminology 46:447–48
    [Google Scholar]
  72. Lee MR, Ousey GC. 2001. Size matters: examining the link between small manufacturing, socioeconomic deprivation, and crime rates in nonmetropolitan communities. Sociol. Q. 42:4581–602
    [Google Scholar]
  73. Lee MR, Thomas SA. 2010. Civic community, population change, and violent crime in rural communities. J. Res. Crime Delinq. 47:1118–47
    [Google Scholar]
  74. Lichtenstein N. 2008. How Wal-Mart fights unions. Minn. Law Rev. 92:51462–501
    [Google Scholar]
  75. Lichtenstein N. 2009. The Retail Revolution: How Wal-Mart Created a Brave New World of Business New York: Metropolitan
  76. Lobao LM. 1990. Locality and Inequality: Farm and Industry Structure and Socioeconomic Conditions Albany: State Univ. NY Press
  77. Lobao LM, Stofferahn CW. 2008. The community effects of industrialized farming: social science research and challenges to corporate farming laws. Agric. Hum. Values 25:219–40
    [Google Scholar]
  78. Lunden I. 2018. Amazon's share of the U.S. e-commerce market is now 49%, or 5% of all retail spending. TechCrunch July 13. https://techcrunch.com/2018/07/13/amazons-share-of-the-us-e-commerce-market-is-now-49-or-5-of-all-retail-spend/
    [Google Scholar]
  79. Lyson TA. 2006. Big business and community welfare: revisiting a classic study by C. Wright Mills and Melville Ulmer. Am. J. Econ. Sociol. 65:1001–23
    [Google Scholar]
  80. Lyson TA, Tolbert CM. 1996. Small manufacturing and nonmetropolitan socioeconomic well-being. Environ. Plann. A Econ. Space 28:1779–94
    [Google Scholar]
  81. Lyson TA, Torres RJ, Welsh R 2001. Scale of agricultural production, civic engagement, and community welfare. Soc. Forces 80:311–27
    [Google Scholar]
  82. Markowitz F, Bellair PE, Liska AE, Liu J 2001. Extending social disorganization theory: modeling the relationship between cohesion, disorder, and fear. Criminology 39:293–320
    [Google Scholar]
  83. Marlow ML. 2015. Big box stores and obesity. Appl. Econ. Lett. 22:12938–44
    [Google Scholar]
  84. Mills CW, Ulmer M. 1970 (1946). Small business and civil welfare. The Structure of Community Power M Aiken, PE Mott 124–54 New York: Random House
    [Google Scholar]
  85. Mitchell S. 2006. Big-Box Swindle Boston: Beacon
  86. Mitchell S. 2010. What new census data show about the state of independent retail. Independent Business Dec. 16. https://ilsr.org/what-new-census-data-show-about-state-independent-retail
    [Google Scholar]
  87. Neumark D, Zhang J, Ciccarella S 2008. The effects of Wal-Mart on local labor markets. J. Urban Econ. 63:405–30
    [Google Scholar]
  88. Oldenburg R. 1989. The Great Good Place: Cafés, Coffee Shops, Community Centers, Beauty Parlors, General Stores, Bars, Hangouts, and How They Get You Through the Day New York: Paragon
  89. Paruchuri S, Baum JAC, Potere D 2009. The Wal-Mart effect: wave of destruction or creative destruction. Econ. Geogr. 85:2209–36
    [Google Scholar]
  90. Pellegrin RJ, Coates CH. 1956. Absentee-owned corporations and community power structure. Am. J. Sociol. 61:413–19
    [Google Scholar]
  91. Peterson RD, Krivo LJ, Harris MA 2000. Disadvantage and neighborhood violent crime: Do local institutions matter?. J. Res. Crime Delinq. 37:31–63
    [Google Scholar]
  92. Pettypiece S, Voreacos D. 2016. Walmart's out-of-control crime problem is driving police crazy. Bloomberg Businessweek Aug. 17. https://www.bloomberg.com/features/2016-walmart-crime/
    [Google Scholar]
  93. Piore MJ, Sabel CF. 1984. The Second Industrial Divide New York: Basic
  94. Putnam RD. 1993. Making Democracy Work: Civic Traditions in Modern Italy Princeton, NJ: Princeton Univ. Press
  95. Putnam RD. 1995. Bowling alone: America's declining social capital. J. Democr. 6:165–78
    [Google Scholar]
  96. Putnam RD. 2000. Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community New York: Simon and Schuster
  97. Reich RB. 1998. The new meaning of corporate social responsibility. Calif. Manag. Rev. 40:8–17
    [Google Scholar]
  98. Roy WG. 1997. Socializing Capital: The Rise of the Large Industrial Corporation in America Princeton, NJ: Princeton Univ. Press
  99. Rupasingha A, Goetz SJ, Freshwater D 2006. The production of social capital in U.S. counties. J. Socio-Econ. 35:183–101
    [Google Scholar]
  100. Schumpeter JA. 1942. Capitalism, Socialism, and Democracy New York: Harper
  101. Seiner JA. 2014. Weathering Wal-Mart. Notre Dame Law Rev 89:1343–81
    [Google Scholar]
  102. Shaw K, Lafontaine F, Cardiff-Hicks B 2015. Do large modern retailers pay premium wages?. Ind. Labor Relat. Rev. 68:633–65
    [Google Scholar]
  103. Sobel RS, Dean AM. 2008. Has Wal-Mart buried mom and pop? The impact of Wal-Mart on self-employment and small establishments in the United States. Econ. Inq. 46:4676–95
    [Google Scholar]
  104. Sochar BH. 2008. Shining the light on greyfields: a Wal-Mart case study on preventing abandonment of big box stores through land use regulations. Albany Law Rev 71:697–730
    [Google Scholar]
  105. Sohn DW. 2016. Do all commercial land uses deteriorate neighborhood safety? Examining the relationship between commercial land-use mix and residential burglary. Habitat Int 55:148–58
    [Google Scholar]
  106. Stater M, Visser MS. 2008. Implications of big box retail location on regional profits, consumer utility, and land rents. Rev. Reg. Stud. 38:18–28
    [Google Scholar]
  107. Steidley T, Ramey DM, Shrider EA 2017. Gun shops as local institutions: federal firearms licensees, social disorganization, and neighborhood violent crime. Soc. Forces 96:265–98
    [Google Scholar]
  108. Stone KE. 1995. Impact of Wal-Mart stores on Iowa communities: 1983–93. Econ. Dev. Rev. 13:60–69
    [Google Scholar]
  109. Stone KE. 1997. Impact of the Walmart phenomenon on rural communities. Increasing Understanding of Public Problems and Policies DP Ernstes, DM Hicks 189–200 Chicago: Farm Found.
    [Google Scholar]
  110. Stroope S, Franzen AB, Tolbert CM, Mencken FC 2014. College graduates, local retailers, and community belonging in the United States. Sociol. Spectrum 34:143–62
    [Google Scholar]
  111. Supply Chain Digest 2013. What is Walmart's share of U.S. retail sales? News Release, July 26. http://www.scdigest.com/assets/newsviews/13-07-26-1.php?cid=7260
  112. Taillie LS, Ng SW, Popkin BM 2015. Global growth of “big box” stores and the potential impact on human health and nutrition. Nutr. Rev. 74:283–97
    [Google Scholar]
  113. Tannock S. 2001. Youth at Work: The Unionized Fast-Food and Grocery Workplace Philadelphia: Temple Univ. Press
  114. Thompson P. 2003. Disconnected capitalism: or why employers can't keep their side of the bargain. Work Employ. Soc. 17:359–78
    [Google Scholar]
  115. Tolbert CM. 2005. Minding our own business: local retail establishments and the future of Southern civic community. Soc. Forces 83:1309–28
    [Google Scholar]
  116. Tolbert CM, Horan PM, Beck EM 1980. The structure of economic segmentation: a dual economy approach. Am. J. Sociol. 85:1095–116
    [Google Scholar]
  117. Tolbert CM, Irwin MD, Lyson TA, Nucci AR 2002. Civic community in small‐town America: how civic welfare is influenced by local capitalism and civic engagement. Rural Sociol 67:90–113
    [Google Scholar]
  118. Tolbert CM, Lyson TA, Irwin MD 1998. Local capitalism, civic engagement, and socioeconomic well-being. Soc. Forces 77:401–27
    [Google Scholar]
  119. Vallas S, Prener C. 2012. Dualism, job polarization, and the social construction of precarious work. Work Occup 39:4331–53
    [Google Scholar]
  120. Vandegrift D, Loyer J. 2015. The effect of Walmart and Target on the tax base: evidence from New Jersey. J. Reg. Sci. 55:2159–87
    [Google Scholar]
  121. Villemez WJ, Bridges WP. 1988. When bigger is better: differences in the individual-level effect of firm and establishment size. Am. Sociol. Rev. 53:237–55
    [Google Scholar]
  122. Volpe RJ III, Lavoie N 2008. The effect of Wal-Mart supercenters on grocery prices in New England. Rev. Agric. Econ. 30:14–26
    [Google Scholar]
  123. Volpe RJ III, Okrent A, Leibtag E 2013. The effect of supercenter-format stores on the healthfulness of consumers’ grocery purchases. Am. J. Agric. Econ. 95:568–89
    [Google Scholar]
  124. Wexler L. 2011. Wal-Mart matters. Wake For. Law Rev. 46:95–121
    [Google Scholar]
  125. Williams CL. 2006. Inside Toyland: Working, Shopping, and Social Inequality Berkeley: Univ. Calif. Press
  126. Williams CL, Connell C. 2010. Looking good and sounding right: aesthetic labor and social inequality in the retail industry. Work Occup 37:349–77
    [Google Scholar]
  127. Wolfe SE, Pyrooz DC. 2014. Rolling back prices and raising crime rates? The Walmart effect on crime in the United States. Br. J. Criminol. 54:199–221
    [Google Scholar]
  128. Yue LQ, Rao H, Ingram P 2013. Information spillovers from protests against corporations: a tale of Walmart and Target. Admin. Sci. Q. 58:669–701
    [Google Scholar]
  129. Zaczkiewicz A. 2017. Wal-Mart maintains top U.S. retail sales pole position, Amazon gains: analysts from Telsey Advisory Group compared sales from 1996 to last year. Women's Wear Daily Mar. 8. https://wwd.com/business-news/financial/telsey-advisory-report-walmart-10838088/
    [Google Scholar]
/content/journals/10.1146/annurev-soc-073018-022449
Loading
  • Article Type: Review Article
This is a required field
Please enter a valid email address
Approval was a Success
Invalid data
An Error Occurred
Approval was partially successful, following selected items could not be processed due to error