Working Paper: NBER ID: w19912
Authors: Matthew E. Kahn; Nils Kok
Abstract: The commercial real estate sector is responsible for a large share of a city's overall carbon footprint. An ongoing trend in this sector has been the entry of big-box stores such as Wal-Mart. Using a unique monthly panel data set for every Wal-Mart store in California from 2006 through 2011, we document three main findings about the environmental performance of big-box retailers. First, Wal-Mart's stores exhibit very little store-to-store variation in electricity consumption relative to a control group of similar size and vintage retail stores. Second, Wal-Mart's store's electricity consumption is lower in higher priced utilities and is independent of the store's ownership versus leased status. Third, unlike other commercial businesses, Wal-Mart's newer buildings consume less electricity. Together, these results highlight the key roles that corporate size and centralization of management play in determining a key indicator of a firm's overall environmental performance.
Keywords: Big-box retailers; Urban carbon emissions; Walmart; Electricity consumption; Environmental performance
JEL Codes: Q41; Q54
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| Standardized management practices across operations (L23) | Walmart stores exhibit minimal store-to-store variation in electricity consumption (L68) |
| Higher utility prices (L97) | Walmart's electricity consumption is lower (L94) |
| Age of Walmart stores (L81) | Newly constructed Walmart stores consume less electricity than older stores (L81) |
| Centralized management practices and corporate size (L22) | Walmart's environmental performance (F64) |