[Vision2020] The WalMart Effect

[Stephen Cooke]

I have looked at the wage and industry effects for all 2-digit sic sectors
in the U.S.  between 1978 and 1998. Wal-Mart I assume falls into (is?) the
"General merchandise stores" sector. Average wages in this sector have
fallen -0.6% / yr over the past 20 yrs. The average wage in this sector was
at $16k /yr in 1998 and, I assume, still falling - The Wal-Mart Effect? 

My guess is that Wal-Mart corp. increases labor productivity by paying
"associates" less per hour with lower wages and fewer benefits, i.e.,
through institutional rather than a technological innovation. I admire the
company's technological innovations, but I, for one, am done w/ Wal-Mart
because of their heavy handed labor and supplier policies (recall the Rubber
Maid story in the PBS /Wal-Mart exposé). 
Steve Cooke