IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/wly/ajagec/v107y2025i1p208-230.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The role of geographic market definition in analysis of grocery retailing

Author

Listed:
  • Yanghao Wang
  • Metin Çakır
  • Timothy A. Park

Abstract

We examine how estimates of household food demand elasticities and store profit margins vary with alternative geographic market extents using structural models of household store choice and retailer competition. Our consumer store choice model is novel, simultaneously accounting for the heterogeneity of store choice sets, households' travel distance to stores, and their store‐specific shopping basket prices. We estimate the models using a unique combination of datasets on grocery purchases. We find that the geographic market extent is positively associated with household demand elasticity and negatively associated with store profit margins. The maximum market extent at which changes in demand elasticities become statistically insignificant varies by retailers, ranging between 10 and 16 km. These findings are robust to alternative assumptions of store competition. Our results imply that overlooking the locality of retail competition can result in overestimating the magnitudes of household demand elasticities while underestimating store profit margins, characterizing a relatively more competitive market.

Suggested Citation

  • Yanghao Wang & Metin Çakır & Timothy A. Park, 2025. "The role of geographic market definition in analysis of grocery retailing," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 107(1), pages 208-230, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:ajagec:v:107:y:2025:i:1:p:208-230
    DOI: 10.1111/ajae.12461
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/ajae.12461
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/ajae.12461?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Peter Davis, 2006. "Spatial competition in retail markets: movie theaters," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 37(4), pages 964-982, December.
    2. Jean-Francois Houde, 2012. "Spatial Differentiation and Vertical Mergers in Retail Markets for Gasoline," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 102(5), pages 2147-2182, August.
    3. Rebecca Taylor & Sofia B. Villas-Boas, 2016. "Food Store Choices of Poor Households: A Discrete Choice Analysis of the National Household Food Acquisition and Purchase Survey (FoodAPS)," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 98(2), pages 513-532.
    4. Jean Tirole, 1988. "The Theory of Industrial Organization," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 1, volume 1, number 0262200716, December.
    5. Esteban Rossi-Hansberg & Pierre-Daniel Sarte & Nicholas Trachter, 2021. "Diverging Trends in National and Local Concentration," NBER Macroeconomics Annual, University of Chicago Press, vol. 35(1), pages 115-150.
    6. Kim, Hyunchul & Kim, Kyoo il, 2017. "Estimating store choices with endogenous shopping bundles and price uncertainty," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 1-36.
    7. Peter Davis, 2006. "Spatial competition in retail markets: movie theaters," RAND Journal of Economics, RAND Corporation, vol. 37(4), pages 964-982, December.
    8. Timothy J. Richards & Luis Padilla, 2009. "Promotion and Fast Food Demand," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 91(1), pages 168-183.
    9. Raphael Thomadsen, 2007. "Product Positioning and Competition: The Role of Location in the Fast Food Industry," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 26(6), pages 792-804, 11-12.
    10. Dennis Rickert & Jan Philip Schain & Joel Stiebale, 2021. "Local Market Structure and Consumer Prices: Evidence from a Retail Merger," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 69(3), pages 692-729, September.
    11. Lauren Chenarides & Metin Çakır & Timothy J. Richards, 2024. "Dynamic model of entry: Dollar stores," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 106(2), pages 852-882, March.
    12. Howard Smith, 2004. "Supermarket Choice and Supermarket Competition in Market Equilibrium," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 71(1), pages 235-263.
    13. Kathleen Cleeren & Frank Verboven & Marnik G. Dekimpe & Katrijn Gielens, 2010. "Intra- and Interformat Competition Among Discounters and Supermarkets," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 29(3), pages 456-473, 05-06.
    14. Yang Li & Brett R. Gordon & Oded Netzer, 2018. "An Empirical Study of National vs. Local Pricing by Chain Stores Under Competition," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 37(5), pages 812-837, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Mitsukuni Nishida, 2015. "Estimating a Model of Strategic Network Choice: The Convenience-Store Industry in Okinawa," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 34(1), pages 20-38, January.
    2. Wayne Taylor & Brett Hollenbeck, 2021. "Leveraging loyalty programs using competitor based targeting," Quantitative Marketing and Economics (QME), Springer, vol. 19(3), pages 417-455, December.
    3. Kim, Hyunchul & Kim, Kyoo il, 2017. "Estimating store choices with endogenous shopping bundles and price uncertainty," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 1-36.
    4. Victor Aguirregabiria & Junichi Suzuki, 2015. "Empirical Games of Market Entry and Spatial Competition in Retail Industries," Working Papers tecipa-534, University of Toronto, Department of Economics.
    5. Darlene Chisholm & George Norman, 2012. "Spatial competition and market share: an application to motion pictures," Journal of Cultural Economics, Springer;The Association for Cultural Economics International, vol. 36(3), pages 207-225, August.
    6. Xiaosong Wu & Matthew S. Lewis & Frank A. Wolak, 2024. "Search with learning in the retail gasoline market," RAND Journal of Economics, RAND Corporation, vol. 55(2), pages 292-323, June.
    7. Nilsson, Isabelle M. & Smirnov, Oleg A., 2016. "Measuring the effect of transportation infrastructure on retail firm co-location patterns," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 110-118.
    8. Yufeng Huang & Bart J. Bronnenberg, 2023. "Consumer Transportation Costs and the Value of E-Commerce: Evidence from the Dutch Apparel Industry," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 42(5), pages 984-1003, September.
    9. Abe Dunn & Mahsa Gholizadeh, 2025. "The Geography of Consumption and Local Economic Shocks: The Case of the Great Recession," American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 17(2), pages 206-244, April.
    10. Nicholas Economides & Przemyslaw Jeziorski, 2017. "Mobile Money in Tanzania," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 36(6), pages 815-837, November.
    11. Victor Aguirregabiria & Margaret Slade, 2017. "Empirical models of firms and industries," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 50(5), pages 1445-1488, December.
    12. Darlene Chisholm & Margaret McMillan & George Norman, 2010. "Product differentiation and film-programming choice: do first-run movie theatres show the same films?," Journal of Cultural Economics, Springer;The Association for Cultural Economics International, vol. 34(2), pages 131-145, May.
    13. Jung, Jinho & Sesmero, Juan Pablo & Balagtas, Joseph V., 2017. "Market Power in Feedstock Procurement and Economic Effects of Corn Ethanol," 2017 Annual Meeting, July 30-August 1, Chicago, Illinois 258544, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    14. Stéphane Turolla, 2016. "Spatial Competition in the French Supermarket Industry," Annals of Economics and Statistics, GENES, issue 121-122, pages 213-259.
    15. Marie-Laure Allain & Claire Chambolle & Stéphane Turolla & Sofia B. Villas-Boas, 2017. "Retail Mergers and Food Prices: Evidence from France," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 65(3), pages 469-509, September.
    16. Cárdenas, Jeisson & Gutiérrez, Luis H. & Otero, Jesús, 2017. "Investigating diesel market integration in France: Evidence from micro data," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 63(C), pages 314-321.
    17. Yoon, Jangsu, 2024. "Identification and estimation of sequential games of incomplete information with multiple equilibria," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 238(2).
    18. Lori Parcel, 2008. "Stiff Competition: Vertical Relationships in Cremation Services," Discussion Papers 07-041, Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research.
    19. Sumit Agarwal & J. Bradford Jensen & Ferdinando Monte, 2017. "The Geography of Consumption," Working Papers 2017-062, Human Capital and Economic Opportunity Working Group.
    20. Alon Eizenberg & Saul Lach & Merav Oren-Yiftach, 2021. "Retail Prices in a City," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 13(2), pages 175-206, May.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:wly:ajagec:v:107:y:2025:i:1:p:208-230. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://doi.org/10.1111/(ISSN)1467-8276 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.