Some potential points to spur discussion:
- Employer clothing store retailers are most affected by retail leakages, on average
losing nearly four and a half establishments for every 10% increase in residents who
work out of county.
- It appears that retail leakages either weaken employer establishments to a greater
degree, or perhaps that retail leakages prevent non-employer establishments from ever
growing into employer businesses due to limited demand for local retail.
- Clothing stores are more likely to have zero establishments in a metro county. This
finding is somewhat consistent with research that finds big box retailers prefer areas
with lower population density.
- Social capital index has the most ubiquitous positive effect on retail establishment
counts.
- While significant sales tax rate coefficients display mixed signs, higher property
tax rates always lead to a lower probability of zero establishments, supporting previous
findings in the literature that higher public amenities lead to higher retail demand.
For the detailed journal article from which this map derives, see Van Sandt, Anders,
Craig Wesley Carpenter, Scott Loveridge, Rebekka Dudensing, and Linda Niehm. 2021.
“Revealing U.S. Retail Industries’ Functional Hierarchy Through Demand Thresholds.” Under review.
This project was supported by the Agricultural and Food Research Initiative Competitive
Program of the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA), award number
2017-67023-26242.
Economic Opportunity Maps Methodology Discussion Guide User's Guide