Revealing U.S. Retail Industries’ Functional Hierarchy Through Demand Thresholds

Abstract

We explore the structure of the U.S. retail sector by estimating county-level demand thresholds for 11 retail industries using establishment-level data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s Longitudinal Business Database and Integrated Longitudinal Business Database. In addition to providing accurate and precise demand threshold estimates at a highly disaggregated industry level, we also explore how location outcomes differ across employers and non-employers using Poisson and negative binomial estimations as well as their zero inflated counterparts. Findings provide insight into the industrial organization of retail industries and suggest that important retail location determinants include retail leakages, sector interdependencies, social capital, natural assets, and other place-based factors. JEL Codes: D0, R1, L1, L8