A micro-econometric approach to geographic market definition in local retail markets: demand side considerations

This paper formalizes an empirically implementable framework for the definition of local antitrust markets in retail markets. This framework rests on a demand model that captures the trade-off between distance and pecuniary cost across alternative shopping destinations within local markets. The paper develops, and presents estimation results for, an empirical demand model at the store level for groceries in the UK

Data Mining for Shopping Centres – Customer Knowledge-Management Framework

Shopping centers are an important part of the UK economy and have been the subject of considerable research. Relying on complex interdependencies between shoppers, retailers and owners, shopping centers are ideal for knowledge management study. Nevertheless, although retailers have been in the forefront of data mining, little has been written on Customer Knowledge Management for shopping centers. In this chapter, the authors aim to demonstrate the possibilities and draw attention to the possible implications of improving customer satisfaction. Aspects of customer knowledge management for shopping centers are considered using analogies drawn from an exploratory questionnaire survey. The objectives of a Customer Knowledge Management system could include increasing rental incomes and bringing new life back into shopping centers and towns

The EFFects of Immigration on the Scale and Composition of Demand: A study of California establishments

We study potential economic benefits of immigration stemming from two factors: first, that immigrants bring not only their labor supply with them, but also their consumption demands; and second, that immigrants may have a comparative advantage in the production of ethnic goods. Using data on the universe of business establishments located in California between 1992 and 2002 matched with Census of Population data, we find some evidence that immigrant inflows boost employment in the retail sector, which is non-traded and a non-intensive user of immigrant labor. We find that immigration is associated with fewer stand-alone retail stores, and a greater number of large and in particular big-box retailers – evidence that likely contradicts a diversityenhancing effect of immigration. On the other hand, focusing more sharply on the restaurant sector, for which we can better identify the types of products consumed by customers, the evidence indicates that immigration is associated with increased ethnic diversity of restaurants.Effects of immigration, ethnic goods, consumption diversitY

The Effects of Immigration on the Scale and Composition of Demand: A study of California establishments

We study potential economic benefits of immigration stemming from two factors: first, that immigrants bring not only their labor supply with them, but also their consumption demands; and second, that immigrants may have a comparative advantage in the production of ethnic goods. Using data on the universe of business establishments located in California between 1992 and 2002 matched with Census of Population data, we find some evidence that immigrant inflows boost employment in the retail sector, which is non-traded and a non-intensive user of immigrant labor. We find that immigration is associated with fewer stand-alone retail stores, and a greater number of large and in particular big-box retailers – evidence that likely contradicts a diversityenhancing effect of immigration. On the other hand, focusing more sharply on the restaurant sector, for which we can better identify the types of products consumed by customers, the evidence indicates that immigration is associated with increased ethnic diversity of restaurants.Effects of immigration, ethnic goods, consumption diversity

Shacklefords Commercial Development Analysis

King and Queen County believes that economic development is crucial to ensuring a stable economy and high quality of life for residents of the county. With an out-commuting rate of 71% for the entire Middle Peninsula region, residents and businesses are spending their money outside of the region due to a lack of job opportunities and commercial development. However, the intersection of Route 33 and The Trail at Shacklefords within King and Queen County provides a major economic development opportunity for King and Queen County and the Middle Peninsula region. Through a one-semester research project, students in a VCU Commercial Revitalization course were invited by King and Queen County Administrator, Thomas Swartzwelder, to complete research on King and Queen County’s opportunity to attract the commuting traffic passing Shacklefords each day, as well as meet the desires of the community and the existing plans for this site. A VDOT Smart Scale funded development, currently in the design phase, will create a telecommuting center at the Shacklefords site, and relocate the offices of the Middle Peninsula Planning District Commission (PDC) to the same development. On a separate site at the same intersection, a privately established craft brewery site represents a convergence of new development that could spur additional commercial opportunities

Multiperiod Dispatching and Routing for On-Time Delivery in a Dynamic and Stochastic Environment

On-demand delivery has become increasingly popular around the world. Brick-and-mortar grocery stores, restaurants, and pharmacies are providing fast delivery services to satisfy the growing home delivery demand. Motivated by a large meal and grocery delivery company, we model and solve a multiperiod driver dispatching and routing problem for last-mile delivery systems where on-time performance is the main target. The operator of this system needs to dispatch a set of drivers and specify their delivery routes in a stochastic environment, in which random demand arrives over a fixed number of periods. The resulting dynamic program is challenging to solve due to the curse of dimensionality. We propose a novel approximation framework to approximate the value function via a simplified dispatching program. We then develop efficient exact algorithms for this problem based on Benders decomposition and column generation. We validate the superior performance of our framework and algorithms via extensive numerical experiments. Tested on a real-world data set, we quantify the value of adaptive dispatching and routing in on-time delivery and highlight the need of coordinating these two decisions in a dynamic setting. We show that dispatching multiple vehicles with short trips is preferable for on-time delivery, as opposed to sending a few vehicles with long travel times

Obesity in Urban Food Markets: Evidence from Geo-referenced Micro Data

This paper provides quantitative estimates of the effect of proximity to fast food restaurants and grocery stores on obesity in urban food markets. Our empirical model combined georeferenced micro data on access to fast food restaurants and grocery stores with data about salient personal characteristics, individual behaviors, and neighborhood characteristics. We defined a "local food environment" for every individual utilizing 0.5-mile buffers around a person's home address. Local food landscapes are potentially endogenous due to spatial sorting of the population and food outlets, and the body mass index (BMI) values for individuals living close to each other are likely to be spatially correlated because of observed and unobserved individual and neighborhood effects. The potential biases associated with endogeneity and spatial correlation were handled using spatial econometric estimation techniques. Our policy simulations for Indianapolis, Indiana, focused on the importance of reducing the density of fast food restaurants or increasing access to grocery stores. We accounted for spatial heterogeneity in both the policy instruments and individual neighborhoods, and consistently found small but statistically significant effects for the hypothesized relationships between individual BMI values and the densities of fast food restaurants and grocery stores.obesity, fast food, grocery store, spatial econometrics, micro data, Agricultural and Food Policy, Community/Rural/Urban Development, Consumer/Household Economics, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Health Economics and Policy, Public Economics, Research Methods/ Statistical Methods, C31, D12, I12, I18,

Arts and Economic Prosperity 5: The Economic Impact of Nonprofit Arts & Cultural Organizations & their Audiences in Western New York

[Excerpt] Arts & Economic Prosperity 5 provides evidence that the nonprofit arts and culture sector is a significant industry in Western New York—one that generates $352.1 million in total economic activity. This spending—$156 million by nonprofit arts and cultural organizations and an additional $196.1 million in event-related spending by their audiences—supports 10,160 full-time equivalent jobs, generates$208.2 million in household income to local residents, and delivers $40.3 million in local and state government revenue. This economic impact study sends a strong signal that when we support the arts, we not only enhance our quality of life, but we also invest in Western New York’s economic well-being

Expanding the North Dakota Input-Output Model to Include Recreation and Tourism

Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,