Spatial aspects of retail market structure: BLS and ERS food prices revisited

This paper draws on the spatial model in (Claycombe and Mahan, 1993) and the BLS data developed in (Lamm, 1981) to test for the significance of spatial and concentration variables as determinants of retail prices. Results strongly suggest that structure in narrow retail markets affects price. Different results are found using the ERS data in (Kaufman and Handy, 1989), further fueling controversy there.The author wishes to acknowledge the assistance of David Skeehan in this work and to thank Charles Handy for providing the ERS data.