Global Insight issued a call for research papers from the academic and business community on the economic impact of Wal-Mart, the nation's largest retailer, on the U.S. economy. An independent Global Insight Review Committee selected studies from among these submissions for presentation at the Wal-Mart sponsored conference, Economic Impact Research Conference: An In-Depth Look at Wal-Mart and Society, held in Washington, D.C. on November 4, 2005. The selection of studies was not dependent upon either positive or negative findings but on academic rigor, methodology, and overall quality of analysis.

To find out more, return to www.globalinsight.com/walmart

• The Economic Impact of Wal-Mart (registration required)
  Global Insight, Inc.
  
  
• Selling a Cheaper Mousetrap: Wal-Mart's Effect on Retail Prices
  Author:
  Emek Basker, University of Missouri
  Visiting Scholar, Haas School of Business, University of California – Berkeley
  
  
• Putting a Smiley Face on the Dragon: Wal-Mart as Catalyst for U.S.-China Trade
  Authors:
  Emek Basker, University of Missouri
  Pham Hoang Van, University of Missouri
  
  
• For a Few Dollars Less: Estimating and Regulating the Costs and Benefits of Wal-Mart's Entry into Unionized Grocery Market
  Authors:
  Randall Crane, University of California, Los Angeles
  Daniel G. Chatman, Rutgers University
  Marlon Boarnet, University of California, Irvine
  Michael Manville, University of California, Los Angeles
  
  
• Consumer Benefits from Increased Competition in Shopping Outlets: Measuring the Effect of Wal-Mart
  Authors:
  Jerry Hausman, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
  Ephraim Leibtag, USDA Economic Research Service Service,
  
  
• Three studies:
  • The Impact of Wal-Mart on Local Fiscal Health: Evidence from a Panel of Ohio Counties
  • Does Wal-Mart Cause an Increase in Anti-Poverty Program Expenditures?
  • What Do Quarterly Workforce Dynamics Tell Us About Wal-Mart? Evidence from New Stores in Pennsylvania
  Author:
  Michael J. Hicks, Air Force Institute of Technology and Marshall University
  
  
• The Economic Impact of Wal-Mart Supercenters on Existing Business in Mississippi
  Authors:
  Albert Myles, Mississippi State University
  Kenneth Stone, Iowa State University
  Georgeanne Artz, Iowa State University
  
  
• The Effects of Wal-Mart on Local Labor Markets
  Author:
  David Neumark, Public Policy Institute of California