Does Wal-Mart Reduce Social Capital?
50 Pages Posted: 22 Jun 2007 Last revised: 14 Oct 2007
Date Written: October 10, 2007
Abstract
Social capital has attracted increasing attention in recent years. We use county-level and individual survey data to study how Wal-Mart affects social capital. Estimates using several proxies for social capital such as club membership, religious activity, time with friends, and other measures do not support the thesis that "Wal-Mart destroys communities" by reducing social capital. We measure exposure to Wal-Mart two ways: Wal-Marts per 10,000 residents and Wal-Marts per 10,000 residents aggregated over years since 1979 to capture a more cumulative "Wal-Mart Effect." We find that coefficients on Wal-Mart's presence are statistically insignificant in most specifications.
Keywords: social capital, Wal-Mart, Walmart, social
JEL Classification: A10, A13, D00, Z1
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation
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