Working Paper: NBER ID: w18111
Authors: Devin G. Pope; Jaren C. Pope
Abstract: Walmart often faces strong local opposition when trying to build a new store. Opponents often claim that Walmart lowers nearby housing prices. In this study we use over one million housing transactions located near 159 Walmarts that opened between 2000 and 2006 to test if the opening of a Walmart does indeed lower housing prices. Using a difference-in-differences specification, our estimates suggest that a new Walmart store actually increases housing prices by between 2 and 3 percent for houses located within 0.5 miles of the store and by 1 to 2 percent for houses located between 0.5 and 1 mile.
Keywords: Walmart; housing prices; difference-in-differences; local economy
JEL Codes: R20
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| Walmart openings (L81) | housing prices (R31) |
| Parallel trends assumption (C22) | validity of DiD estimates (C22) |