2009
Chapter
Producer Dynamics: New Evidence from Micro Data

Entry, Exit and Labour Productivity in U.K. Retailing: Evidence from Micro Data

By: Jonathan Haskel and Raffaella Sadun

Format:Print

Abstract

The paper investigates the U.K. retail sector using store and firm-level data between 1998 and 2003. First, we present the first exhaustive description of the U.K. retail sector using micro data sources. Second, in the spirit of Foster, Haltiwanger, and Krizan (2002), we look at the contributions of firm entry and exit for the productivity growth of the sector. Third, we provide some new evidence of the recent shift of large U.K. retailers toward smaller retail formats, which followed the introduction of new and more restrictive planning constraints for the opening of large retail stores. We suggest that this change in the store configurations of the major retailers might be one of the factors behind the recent TFP slowdown experienced by the industry in the U.K.

Keywords

Business Ventures; Market Entry and Exit; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Performance Productivity; Retail Industry; United Kingdom

Citation

Haskel, Jonathan, and Raffaella Sadun. "Entry, Exit and Labour Productivity in U.K. Retailing: Evidence from Micro Data." Chap. 7 in Producer Dynamics: New Evidence from Micro Data, edited by Timothy Dunne, J. Bradford Jensen, and Mark J. Roberts. University of Chicago Press, 2009. (Working Paper version.)