Walmart

== Economic impact ==
=== Effects on customers ===
A 2005 story in ''The Washington Post'' reported that "Wal-Mart's discounting on food alone boosts the welfare of American shoppers by at least {{US$|50&nbsp;billion}} per year."<ref>{{cite news |author = Mallaby, Sebastian |date = November 28, 2005 |url = https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/11/27/AR2005112700687.html |title = Progressive Wal-Mart. Really |newspaper = The Washington Post |access-date = August 4, 2006 |url-status=live |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080516202924/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/11/27/AR2005112700687.html |archive-date = May 16, 2008}}</ref> A study in 2005 at the [[Massachusetts Institute of Technology]] (MIT) measured the effect on [[Welfare economics|consumer welfare]] and found that the poorest segment of the population benefits the most from the existence of discount retailers.<ref>{{cite web |author = Hausman, Jerry |first2 = Ephraim |last2 = Leibtag |date = October 2005 |url = http://economics.mit.edu/files/1765 |title = Consumer Benefits from Increased Competition in Shopping Outlets: Measuring the Effect of Wal-Mart |publisher = [[Massachusetts Institute of Technology|MIT]]/[[United States Department of Agriculture]] |access-date = August 4, 2006 |url-status=live |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120816233917/http://economics.mit.edu/files/1765 |archive-date = August 16, 2012}}</ref> 
In 2006, American newspaper columnist [[George Will]] stated that In terms of economic effects, "Wal-Mart and its effects save shoppers more than {{US$|200&nbsp;billion}} a year, dwarfing such government programs as [[Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program|food stamps]] ({{US$|28.6&nbsp;billion}}) and the [[earned income tax credit]] ({{US$|34.6&nbsp;billion}})".<ref>{{cite news |last = Will |first = George |url = https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/13/AR2006091301573.html |title = Democrats Vs. Wal-Mart |newspaper = The Washington Post |date = September 14, 2006 |author-link = George Will |archive-date = July 28, 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130728114309/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/13/AR2006091301573.html }}</ref>

=== Effects on retailers===
Kenneth Stone, Professor of Economics at Iowa State University, in a paper published in ''Farm Foundation'' (1997), found that some small towns can lose almost half of their retail trade within ten years of a Walmart store opening. Presumably, people who previously shopped in towns without Wal-Mart stores choose to shop in towns with Wal-Mart stores, part of an older pattern in which smaller centers lose retail sales to larger ones. Stone compared the changes to previous competitors that small town shops have faced in the past, such as the development of the railroads, the Sears Roebuck catalog, and shopping malls. He concluded that small towns are more affected by "discount mass merchandiser stores" than larger towns and that shop owners who adapt to the ever-changing retail market can "co-exist and even thrive in this type of environment."<ref name="Rural"/> In later research Artz and Stone (2006) reported that in Mississippi the impact of opening a Walmart was much larger on existing retailers in rural communities (17%) than more urban ones (4%).<ref name="Volpe"/><ref name="Artz">{{cite journal |last1=Artz |first1=Georgeanne M. |last2=Stone |first2=Kenneth E. |title=Analyzing the Impact of Wal-Mart Supercenters on Local Food Store Sales |journal=American Journal of Agricultural Economics |date=2006 |volume=88 |issue=5 |pages=1296–1303 |doi=10.1111/j.1467-8276.2006.00948.x |jstor=4123607 |issn=0002-9092 |doi-access=free }}</ref> This also suggests that Walmart has achieved its strongest growth in non-metropolitan areas, which tend to be low-income.<ref name="Volpe"/>

Studies of the impact of Walmart tend to focus on Supercenters rather than Neighborhood Markets. Comparisons of performance metrics such as sales per square foot suggest that supermarkets and other high-volume retailers in direct competition with Walmart Supercenters show significant decreases in profit margins.<ref name="Volpe"/> While Walmart has often been said to be a destroyer of small businesses, much of this is anecdotal. Research so far suggests that Walmart superstores have little effect on smaller retailers such as "Mom and Pop" businesses.<ref name="Volpe"/> A 2008 economic analysis published in the journal ''[[Economic Inquiry]]'' suggested that "the process of [[creative destruction]] unleashed by Wal‐Mart has had no statistically significant long‐run impact on the overall size and profitability of the small business sector in the United States."<ref name="sobel_dean">{{Cite journal|doi = 10.1111/j.1465-7295.2007.00091.x|title = Has Wal-Mart Buried Mom and Pop?: The Impact of Wal-Mart on Self-Employment and Small Establishments in the United States|year = 2008|last1 = Sobel|first1 = Russell S.|last2 = Dean|first2 = Andrea M.|journal = Economic Inquiry|volume = 46|issue = 4|pages = 676–695|s2cid = 28554345|doi-access = free}}</ref>

Impact appears to be related to a number of factors, with a key factor being the goods offered for sale.<ref name="Volpe"/> A study by Ailawadi and others (2010) examined the impact of new Walmarts in detail. She reported that median sales dropped 40 percent at similar high-volume stores, 17 percent at supermarkets and 6 percent at drugstores. However, 30 percent of specific product categories at high-volume stores were unaffected. Many retailers reduced prices and cut product selection in an attempt to compete directly with Walmart, in effect attacking its areas of strength. A more successful approach was to track sales, identify vulnerable categories, and increase the range of products in those categories. By including products at both top and bottom price points, and offering temporary promotions on those items, retailers could attract both customers who were price-conscious and those interested in a wider range of options. A small store that specialized in a particular product area could compete effectively against Walmart.<ref name="Tuck">{{cite news |title=Think Outside of the Box (Store): Defending Against Walmart |url=https://www.tuck.dartmouth.edu/news/articles/think-outside-of-the-box-store-defending-against-walmart |access-date=October 14, 2022 |work=Tuck Forum |publisher=Dartmouth University |date=November 2009 |language=en |archive-date=October 14, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221014211351/https://www.tuck.dartmouth.edu/news/articles/think-outside-of-the-box-store-defending-against-walmart |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Ailawadi">{{cite journal |last1=Ailawadi |first1=Kusum L. |last2=Zhang |first2=Jie |last3=Krishna |first3=Aradhna |last4=Kruger |first4=Michael W. |title=When Wal-Mart Enters: How Incumbent Retailers React and how this Affects their Sales Outcomes |journal=Journal of Marketing Research |date=August 2010 |volume=47 |issue=4 |pages=577–593 |doi=10.1509/jmkr.47.4.577 |s2cid=21105799 |url=https://www.deepdyve.com/lp/sage/when-wal-mart-enters-how-incumbent-retailers-react-and-how-this-258YW2pwLT?key=sage |access-date=October 14, 2022 |language=en |issn=0022-2437 |archive-date=October 14, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221014211350/https://www.deepdyve.com/lp/sage/when-wal-mart-enters-how-incumbent-retailers-react-and-how-this-258YW2pwLT?key=sage |url-status=live }}</ref> Small specialized stores are less effective against big-box [[category killer]] chains such as [[Home Depot]] and [[Best Buy]] electronics.<ref name="Crowley">{{cite journal |last1=Crowley |first1=Martha |last2=Stainback |first2=Kevin |title=Retail Sector Concentration, Local Economic Structure, and Community Well-Being |journal=Annual Review of Sociology |date=July 30, 2019 |volume=45 |issue=1 |pages=321–343 |doi=10.1146/annurev-soc-073018-022449 |s2cid=181369011 |language=en |issn=0360-0572 |doi-access=free }}</ref>

Some studies have suggested that the impact a Walmart store has on a local business is correlated to its distance from the store. David Merriman, Joseph Persky, Julie Davis and Ron Baiman (2012) outlined the impacts of Walmart in [[Chicago]]. Based on three annual surveys of enterprises within a four-mile radius of a new Chicago Walmart it "shows that the probability of going out of business was significantly higher for establishments close to that store". The overall findings of this study reinforce the "contention that large-city Walmarts, like those in small towns, absorb retail sales from nearby stores without significantly expanding the market".<ref name="Merriman">{{cite journal |last1=Merriman |first1=David |last2=Persky |first2=Joseph |last3=Davis |first3=Julie |last4=Baiman |first4=Ron |title=The Impact of an Urban WalMart Store on Area Businesses: The Chicago Case |journal=Economic Development Quarterly |date=November 2012 |volume=26 |issue=4 |pages=321–333 |doi=10.1177/0891242412457985 |s2cid=155306293 |url=https://doi.org/10.1177/0891242412457985 |access-date=October 14, 2022 |language=en |issn=0891-2424 |archive-date=November 9, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231109191618/https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0891242412457985 |url-status=live }}</ref> Ellickson & Grieco (2013) report in the ''[[Journal of Urban Economics]]'' that Wal-Marts most strongly affect outlets of larger chains that are within {{convert|2|mi|km}} of their location.<ref name="Ellickson">{{cite journal |last1=Ellickson |first1=Paul B. |last2=Grieco |first2=Paul L.E. |title=Wal-Mart and the geography of grocery retailing |journal=Journal of Urban Economics |date=May 2013 |volume=75 |pages=1–14 |doi=10.1016/j.jue.2012.09.005 }}</ref>

=== Effects on jobs ===
A 2022 literature review concludes that "there is no consensus on the impact of Walmart on local employment, but most studies on the topic point to a modest increase in retail employment".<ref name="Volpe"/> For example, studies at the [[University of Missouri]] found that a new store increases net retail employment in the county by 100 jobs in the short term, half of which disappear over five years as other retail establishments close.<ref>{{cite web |author = Basker, Emek |year = 2002 |url = http://econwpa.wustl.edu/eps/lab/papers/0303/0303002.pdf |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20050430063233/http://econwpa.wustl.edu/eps/lab/papers/0303/0303002.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-date = April 30, 2005 |title = Job Creation or Destruction? Labor-Market Effects of Wal-Mart Expansion |publisher = [[University of Missouri]] |access-date = August 4, 2006 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Basker |first1=Emek |title=Job Creation or Destruction? Labor Market Effects of Wal-Mart Expansion |journal=Review of Economics and Statistics |date=2005 |volume=87 |issue=1 |pages=174–183 |doi=10.1162/0034653053327568|s2cid=207590258 }}</ref> Similarly, a net increase in employment (55 jobs) was found in a study of West Virginia counties between 1989 and 1998.<ref name="Hicks">{{cite journal |last1=Hicks |first1=Michael J. |last2=Wilburn |first2=Kristy L. |title=The Regional Impact of Wal-Mart Entrance: A Panel Study of the Retail Trade Sector in West Virginia |journal=The Review of Regional Studies |date=December 28, 2001 |volume=31 |issue=3 |pages=305–313 |doi=10.52324/001c.8540 |issn=1553-0892|doi-access=free }}</ref>

Like other chain stores, Walmart tends to hire local employees for low-skilled jobs with low wages and minimal benefits.<ref name="Volpe"/> This may increase employees' reliance on public assistance programs, effectively transferring costs away from employers onto taxpayers.<ref name="Crowley"/> Studies examining aggregate retail wage data from states and counties, before and after the arrival of Walmart, are mixed. Some results, particularly from nonmetropolitan areas in the South and central United States, suggest lowered wages. Other studies have found no effect (e.g. Pennsylvania) or an increase in wages (e.g. Maryland).<ref name="Crowley"/> A 2004 paper by Goetz and Swaminathan suggested that U.S. counties with Walmart stores suffered increased poverty compared with counties without Wal-Marts.<ref name="PSUstudy">{{cite web |author = Goetz, Stephan J. |first2 = Hema |last2 = Swaminathan |date = October 18, 2004 |url = http://aers.psu.edu/research/centers/cecd/research/wal-mart-and-county-wide-poverty/full-study/at_download/file |title = Wal-Mart and County-Wide Poverty |publisher = [[Pennsylvania State University]] |access-date = August 4, 2006 |archive-date = May 25, 2017 |archive-url = https://wayback.archive-it.org/all/20170525041946/http://aers.psu.edu/research/centers/cecd/research/wal-mart-and-county-wide-poverty/full-study/at_download/file |url-status = live }}</ref> It is difficult to distinguish the effects of opening a Walmart from other factors, some of which may be related to the decision to open a store. Known as [[Endogeneity (econometrics)|endogeneity bias]], this makes it difficult to determine whether Walmart chooses to establish itself in communities with greater poverty and joblessness, or creates more poverty and joblessness.<ref name="Crowley"/>

Studies of socioeconomic well-being, civic participation, and community welfare suggest that large non-locally owned businesses tend to be centralized and vertically integrated, rely on remote sources and support services, and move money, expertise and power away from local communities. Large externally-oriented businesses tend to be associated with lower local standards of living, greater inequality, and less social and civic participation. This research is not specific to Walmart, but to large businesses in general.<ref name="Crowley"/>

In broader economic terms, the [[Economic Policy Institute]] estimated that between 2001 and 2006 Wal-Mart's trade deficit with China alone represented a loss of nearly 200,000 U.S. jobs. During this period, Wal-Mart was responsible for 9.3% of total U.S. imports from China, increasing the U.S. trade deficit by an estimated $17.1&nbsp;billion. This represents about 200,000 jobs, most of them in the manufacturing sector (133,000).<ref>{{cite web |author = Clark, Robert E. |date = June 26, 2007 |url = http://www.epi.org/content.cfm/ib235 |title = The Wal-Mart effect: Its Chinese imports have displaced nearly 200,000 U.S. jobs (Issue Brief #235) |website = Economic Policy Institute |access-date = August 2, 2008 |archive-date = August 1, 2008 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080801013923/http://www.epi.org/content.cfm/ib235 |url-status = live }}</ref>

A 2014 story in ''[[The Guardian]]'' reported that the Wal-Mart Foundation was boosting its efforts to work with U.S. manufacturers. In February 2014, the Walmart Foundation pledged to support domestic manufacturers by buying {{US$|250&nbsp;billion}} worth of American-made products in the next decade.<ref>{{cite news |author = D G McCullough |url = https://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/made-in-the-usa-sustainable-manufacture |title = Is 'made in the USA' really the most sustainable way to manufacture? |work = The Guardian |access-date = April 24, 2015 |url-status=live |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150626214945/http://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/made-in-the-usa-sustainable-manufacture |archive-date = June 26, 2015}}</ref> Between 2014 and 2017, the Walmart U.S. Manufacturing Innovation Fund gave $10&nbsp;million in grants to research and academic institutions for projects that improve domestic manufacturing.<ref name="Jessica">{{cite news |last1=Lyons Hardcastle |first1=Jessica |title=Walmart Pledges $250B To Revamp the US Manufacturing Industry |url=https://www.environmentalleader.com/2017/01/why-walmarts-250-billion-pledge-will-make-us-manufacturing-more-sustainable/ |access-date=October 18, 2022 |work=Environment + Energy Leader |date=January 24, 2017 |archive-date=October 18, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221018152723/https://www.environmentalleader.com/2017/01/why-walmarts-250-billion-pledge-will-make-us-manufacturing-more-sustainable/ |url-status=live }}</ref> For the 2020 fiscal year, Walmart reported that nearly two-thirds of its merchandise was made, assembled or grown in the United States. As of March 2021, Walmart pledged to buy an additional $350&nbsp;billion worth of American-based items over the next decade.<ref name="Repko">{{cite news |last1=Repko |first1=Melissa |title=Walmart says it will support U.S. manufacturers with $350 billion of added business |url=https://www.cnbc.com/2021/03/03/walmart-to-back-us-manufacturers-with-350-billion-of-added-business.html |access-date=October 18, 2022 |work=CNBC |date=March 3, 2021 |language=en |archive-date=October 18, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221018152722/https://www.cnbc.com/2021/03/03/walmart-to-back-us-manufacturers-with-350-billion-of-added-business.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

=== Effects on productivity ===
A 2001 [[McKinsey & Company|McKinsey]] Global Institute study of U.S. labor productivity growth between 1995 and 2000 concluded that "Wal-Mart directly and indirectly caused the bulk of the productivity acceleration" in general merchandise, representing 16 percent of total productivity growth in the retail sector.<ref>{{cite web |title = US productivity growth, 1995–2000 |url = http://www.mckinsey.com/insights/mgi/research/productivity_competitiveness_and_growth/us_productivity_growth_1995-2000 |publisher = [[McKinsey & Company|McKinsey]] Global Institute |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130117025420/http://www.mckinsey.com/insights/mgi/research/productivity_competitiveness_and_growth/us_productivity_growth_1995-2000 |archive-date = January 17, 2013 |url-status=dead |date = October 2001 }}</ref>
Walmart's transformative use of information technology, particularly in supply-chain management, is identified as a major reason for its impact on productivity per man hour.<ref name="Schrage">{{cite news |last1=Schrage |first1=Michael |title=Wal-Mart Trumps Moore's Law |url=https://www.technologyreview.com/2002/03/01/235222/wal-mart-trumps-moores-law/ |access-date=October 18, 2022 |work=MIT Technology Review |date=March 1, 2002 |language=en |archive-date=October 18, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221018144452/https://www.technologyreview.com/2002/03/01/235222/wal-mart-trumps-moores-law/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Surowiecki">{{cite magazine |last1=Surowiecki |first1=James |title=The New Economy Was a Myth, Right? |url=https://www.wired.com/2002/07/myth-2/ |access-date=October 18, 2022 |magazine=Wired |date=July 1, 2002 |archive-date=October 18, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221018144452/https://www.wired.com/2002/07/myth-2/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Ghemawat">{{cite news |last1=Ghemawat |first1=Pankaj |last2=Mark |first2=Ken A. |title=Opinion {{!}} The Price Is Right |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/03/opinion/the-price-is-right.html |access-date=October 18, 2022 |work=The New York Times |date=August 3, 2005 |archive-date=October 18, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221018144455/https://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/03/opinion/the-price-is-right.html |url-status=live }}</ref> For every dollar spent by Walmart to improve its own technology, an estimated ten dollars has been invested by suppliers throughout its supply chain on their own systems and software. Economist [[Robert Solow]] has emphasized the importance of imitation and adaptation: in addition to improving its own efficiency, Walmart's innovations have been adopted by its competitors so that they can compete.<ref name="Schrage"/>