A Tax-Shaped Retail Landscape

Event details

This CBiS event will discuss the impact that uniform "one-size-fits-all" tax policies have on shaping the retail landscape.

Abstract

This seminar will investigate the impact that uniform "one-size-fits-all" tax policies have on shaping the retail landscape. An entry model demonstrates that tax effects on retailer entry can amplify market concentration, such that retailers with pre-existing brand power advantages are disproportionately responsive to tax policies that impact the sunk costs of entry.

Using comprehensive data about all retail establishments in the United States from 1990 to 2014, we show that while they are more likely to open in markets with favourable state tax policies, these markets become more concentrated as entry is dominated by the largest chains. Therefore, tax policies might impact the retail industry competitiveness, despite the policies' uniform design.

Biography

Nathan Yang is an Assistant Professor in Marketing at the Cornell Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management. Previously, he was an Assistant Professor in Marketing at McGill Desautels Faculty of Management and Affiliate Professor at McGill Bensadoun School of Retail Management.

His main research interests are in behavioural analytics, empirical industrial organization, (mobile) health and wellness, and retail strategy. He completed his PhD in Economics at the University of Toronto.

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