A popular belief among many is that big corporations like Wal-Mart force mom-and-pop stores out of business. Cato’s Regulation Magazine article ?Has Wal-Mart Buried Mom-and-Pop?? points out that many previous studies about Wal-Mart vs. small businesses are flawed. Such studies incorporate information from big retailers like Kmart and Target in the data for small businesses. In reality, Wal-Mart competes with these big business stores like Target and Kmart.
The study concludes:
Wal-Mart has no statistically significant impact on the overall size of the small business sector in the United States. When all is said and done, there are just as many small businesses that are just as profitable despite the presence of Wal-Mart.
Read more common flaws and Cato’s full analysis here.