List of figures

List of tables

Foreword

Preface

Acknowledgments

Introduction

section I. The history and measurement of Wal-Mart

1. The chain store historically considered

The war on the chains 1930-1941

The big-box format

Federal law and the growth of chain stores

2. Measuring Wal-Mart

Assessing Wal-Mart's impacts

Economic theory and Wal-Mart's impact

The income effect

The clustering effect

The labor productivity effect

Measuring the impact of Wal-Mart

How to interpret the statistics in this book

3. The diffusion of Wal-Mart's entrance

Some economic analysis of how Wal-Mart locates stores

Some new evidence of Wal-Mart's entrance behavior

section II. The commercial impacts

4. The labor market impacts of Wal-Mart

Modern estimates of Wal-Mart's impact

Wal-Mart's labor market impacts in Indiana

Wal-Mart distribution centers

Summary

5. The impact of Wal-Mart on the market for goods and services

Wal-Mart in Iowa: a rigorous examination of Stone's classic work

The structure and spatial distribution of the retail industry

Why value competition?

Wal-Mart's effect on consumer prices

6. The impact of Wal-Mart on the aggregate economy

The aggregate labor market

Wal-Mart and manufacturing

Wal-Mart's profits : a supplier comparison

Wal-Mart and land value

An examination of Washington and economic stability

Summary

section III. The fiscal impacts of Wal-Mart

7. Wal-Mart and local tax revenues

The research on local taxes and Wal-Mart

The dynamics of local sales tax collections : evidence from Maine

8. Wal-Mart and local expenditures

Tax incentives and corporate welfare

The effectiveness of tax incentives to Wal-Mart

Wal-Mart and subsidies in California

9. Wal-Mart and antipoverty programs

A discussion of antipoverty programs

Wal-Mart's affect on antipoverty transfers

Some new analysis of Wal-Mart and Medicaid enrollment in Maryland

Summary

section IV. Social impacts of Wal-Mart

10. The poor, the philanthropist, and the mom-and-pop store

Wal-Mart's impact on poverty and income distribution

Wal-Mart's impact on philanthropy

Wal-Mart and mom-and-pop stores

Mom-and-pop stores in Iowa

11. The social aspects of labor market : unions and participation

Wal-Mart's impact on U.S. labor force participation

Is Wal-Mart influencing union participation?

12. Wal-Mart and the local environment : ghostboxes and sprawl

Greyfields and ghostboxes

Wal-Mart's impact on urban sprawl

Summary

section V. State and local public policy and Wal-Mart

13. State and local restrictions on Wal-Mart

Local restrictions on big-box stores

State-level restrictions on Wal-Mart

Wal-Mart and the fair share health care tax

The law and economics of the Wal-Mart tax

14. On loving and hating Wal-Mart : a summary and policy recommendations

References

Index.