Industrial Organization of General Stores in Three Southern States After Emancipation

I explore determinants of entry and exit of general
stores between 1867 and 1870 in Alabama, Arkansas, and Mississippi. If general stores
are monopolies, entry and exit should be insensitive to changes in demand, as
proxied by changes in population. Entry
and exit should also be insensitive to other competitive market forces. Through a newly collected data set of firms
and towns, I find limited evidence consistent with monopoly power. I fail to find clear evidence consistent with
competition. I also find that changes in
population had no significant effect on entry and exit of firms overall,
suggesting that industrial organization of general stores was not unique. Other determinants characterize the business
environments of firms overall, suggesting a complex environment with market
forces not always moving freely.

本文探究了1867至1870年间阿拉巴马州、阿肯色州及密西西比州综合商店的进入与退出决定因素。若综合商店为垄断企业，则其进入与退出应不受需求变化的影响——需求变化以人口变化为代理变量；同时也应不受其他竞争性市场力量的影响。通过新收集的企业与城镇数据集，本文发现与垄断势力相符的证据有限，亦未找到与竞争相符的明确证据。此外，研究发现人口变化对企业整体的进入与退出无显著影响，这表明综合商店的产业组织并非独特。其他决定因素塑造了企业整体的经营环境，暗示市场力量并非总能自由运作的复杂环境。