Layout of Distribution_center_openings.cvs file
March 3, 2010
File used in paper The Diffusion of Wal-Mart and Economies of Density,” Econometrica, Vol. 79, No. 1 (January, 2011), 253-302
by
University of Minnesota, Federal Reserve Bank of
Description of File:
The data on Wal-Mart's food distribution centers (FDC) are based on reports that Wal-Mart is required to file with the EPA, as part of a Risk Management Plan. (The freezers at FDCs use chemicals that are potentially hazardous. The EPA data is distributed by the "Right-to-Know Network" at http://www.rtknet.org) Through these reports, all FDCs are identified. The opening dates of most of the FDCs were obtained from the reports. Remaining opening dates were obtained through a search of news sources.
Data on Wal-Mart general distribution centers (GDC) that handle general merchandise were cobbled together from various sources including Wal-Mart's annual reports and other direct Wal-Mart sources, Mattera and Purinton (2004), and various web and news sources. Great care was taken to distinguish GDCs from other kinds of Wal-Mart facilities such as import centers and speciality distribution centers such as facilities handling internet purchases..
DC Count: There are 78 distribution centers in the data file. Of these, 35 are Food DCs and 43 are Gen DCs.
|
Variable |
Description |
|
ADDRESS |
Address of DC |
|
DC_NUMBER |
DC_Number |
|
OPENDATE |
Opening date of DC |
|
city |
City of DC |
|
lat |
latitude of DC |
|
long |
longitude of DC |
|
sttext |
|
|
type_DC |
Type of DC (GenDC or FoodDC) |
|
year_open |
Year DC opened |
|
zip |
Zip of DC |