Skip to Main Content
HBS Home
  • About
  • Academic Programs
  • Alumni
  • Faculty & Research
  • Baker Library
  • Giving
  • Harvard Business Review
  • Initiatives
  • News
  • Recruit
  • Map / Directions
Faculty & Research
  • Faculty
  • Research
  • Featured Topics
  • Academic Units
  • …→
  • Harvard Business School→
  • Faculty & Research→
Publications
Publications
  • December 2015
  • Article
  • Review of Economics and Statistics

Does Planning Regulation Protect Independent Retailers?

By: Raffaella Sadun
  • Format:Print
ShareBar

Abstract

Regulations aimed at curbing the entry of large retail stores have been introduced in many countries to protect independent retailers. Analyzing a planning reform launched in the United Kingdom in the 1990s, I show that independent retailers were actually harmed by the creation of entry barriers against large stores. Instead of simply reducing the number of new large stores entering a market, the entry barriers created the incentive for large retail chains to invest in smaller and more centrally located formats, which competed more directly with independents and accelerated their decline. Overall, these findings suggest that restricting the entry of large stores does not necessarily lead to a world with fewer stores, but one with different stores, with uncertain competitive effects on independent retailers.

Keywords

Small Business; Competition; Retail Industry; United Kingdom

Citation

Sadun, Raffaella. "Does Planning Regulation Protect Independent Retailers?" Review of Economics and Statistics 97, no. 5 (December 2015): 983–1001.
  • Find it at Harvard
  • Read Now

About The Author

Raffaella Sadun

Strategy
→More Publications

More from the Author

    • 2023
    • Faculty Research

    Remote Work across Jobs, Companies, and Space

    By: Stephen Hansen, Peter John Lambert, Nick Bloom, Steven J. Davis, Raffaella Sadun and Bledi Taska
    • 2022
    • Human-Computer Interaction

    How Does Working from Home during COVID-19 Affect What Managers Do? Evidence from Time-Use Studies

    By: Thomaz Teodorovicz, Raffaella Sadun, Andrew L. Kun and Orit Shaer
    • Harvard Business Review

    The C-Suite Skills That Matter Most

    By: Raffaella Sadun, Joseph B. Fuller, Stephen Hansen and PJ Neal
More from the Author
  • Remote Work across Jobs, Companies, and Space By: Stephen Hansen, Peter John Lambert, Nick Bloom, Steven J. Davis, Raffaella Sadun and Bledi Taska
  • How Does Working from Home during COVID-19 Affect What Managers Do? Evidence from Time-Use Studies By: Thomaz Teodorovicz, Raffaella Sadun, Andrew L. Kun and Orit Shaer
  • The C-Suite Skills That Matter Most By: Raffaella Sadun, Joseph B. Fuller, Stephen Hansen and PJ Neal
ǁ
Campus Map
Harvard Business School
Soldiers Field
Boston, MA 02163
→Map & Directions
→More Contact Information
  • Make a Gift
  • Site Map
  • Jobs
  • Harvard University
  • Trademarks
  • Policies
  • Accessibility
  • Digital Accessibility
Copyright © President & Fellows of Harvard College