The Retail Trade Sector and the Food Industry in Italy

Viviano, Eliana; Gigio, Luciana Aimone; Ciapanna, Emanuela; Coin, Daniele; Colonna, Fabrizio; Lagna, Federica; Santioni, Raffaele

doi:10.2139/ssrn.2045591

Cited by 5 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 44 publications

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“…We also find a negative correlation between population density and the presence of large sales surfaces (ρ = −0.13). In fact, hypermarkets arise mostly in peripheral areas, which implies the need for customers to drive to the store location (for a detailed discussion on the topic, see Viviano et al 2012). As we show in the next sections, this feature helps us to explain the more modest dynamics in sales registered by this category of stores compared to the others during the period of mobility restrictions, which we exploit for identification purposes later in the discussion.…”

Section: The Grocery Chain-store Sector In Italymentioning

confidence: 98%

The Grocery Trolley Race in Times of Covid-19: Evidence from Italy

Ciapanna

Rovigatti

2022

Ital Econ J

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We study the effects of the containment measures imposed by the Italian Government during the first wave of the Covid-19 pandemic on sales of the retail trade sector, focusing on different types of grocery chain stores. We document a sustained growth in revenues for storable products, beginning right before restrictions on mobility were introduced, and lasting throughout the whole lockdown period. The surge has been driven by the dynamics of smaller outlets, located in urban areas and closer to the city centre, while hypermarkets experienced a drop, probably relating to their more peripheral position. Thanks to the remarkable granularity of the Nielsen scanner data and the staggered implementation of restrictions across regions, we causally identify the short-term effects of mobility constraints on outlets' sales. According to our estimates, large grocery stores in areas subject to lockdown measures earned revenues around 10% lower than their control group did. In view of the protraction of the pandemic and the need for the Government to continue managing the containment of infections, our study helps quantifying the costs for the economy of mobility restrictions, also highlighting possible distortions arising among different categories of outlets. KeywordsCovid-19 • Grocery retail trade • Consumption hoarding • Mobility restrictions • Contagion risk JEL Classification D12 • D18 • I30We would like to thank Federico Cingano, Silvia Giacomelli, Sauro Mocetti, Sergio Santoro, and participants to the Bank of Italy Lunch seminar for useful suggestions. We are also indebted to Nicola De Carne (Nielsen) for data assistance. The views expressed here are our own and do not necessarily reflect those of the Bank of Italy.

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Section: The Grocery Chain-store Sector In Italymentioning

confidence: 98%

The Grocery Trolley Race in Times of Covid-19: Evidence from Italy

Ciapanna

Rovigatti

2022

Ital Econ J

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“…We also find a negative correlation between population density and the presence of large sales surfaces (ρ = −.13). In fact, hypermarkets arise mostly in peripheral areas, which implies the need for customers to drive to the store location (for a detailed discussion on the topic, see Viviano et al 2012). As we show in the next sections, this feature helps us to explain the more modest dynamics in sales registered by this category of stores compared to the others during the period of mobility restrictions, which we exploit for identification purposes later in the discussion.…”

Section: The Grocery Chain-store Sector In Italymentioning

confidence: 99%

The Grocery Trolley Race in Times of Covid-19. Evidence from Italy

Ciapanna

Rovigatti

2021

SSRN Journal

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We study the sales dynamics of grocery chain stores during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in Italy. We document a sustained growth in revenues for storable products, such as food staples and household supplies, beginning right before restrictions on mobility were introduced, and lasting throughout the whole lockdown period. We also examine the revenue surge by disentangling the role of different types of stores. We find that the increase has been driven by the dynamics of smaller outlets, located in urban areas and closer to the city centre, while hypermarkets experienced a drop during the lockdown period, probably relating to their more peripheral position. We also exploit both the remarkable granularity of scanner data and the staggered implementation of restrictions across Italian regions to causally identify the short-term effects of mobility constraints on outlets' sales. According to our estimates, large grocery stores in areas subject to lockdown measures earned revenues around 10 per cent lower than their control group did.

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Food Retail Liberalization, Food Retail Structure and Food Prices: The Italian Case

Castellari

Bonanno

Sckokai

2018

Journal of Agricultural &Amp; Food Industrial Organization

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In the last two decades the Italian food retail industry has changed considerably also thanks to the liberalization process started with the 1998 retail regulation reform. In this study, we investigate the impact of such reform on the food and beverage consumer price index, controlling for the endogenous nature of the policy adoption across regions, and addressing what changes in food retail structure may have driven those effects. We find that the policy had a mitigating effect on food prices, which can be explained by the change in the number and composition of food stores operating in the Italian market, rather than by the changes in store size and in-store services. We find the policy effects not to be statistically different across regions characterized by different levels of liberalization.

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The Retail Trade Sector and the Food Industry in Italy

Cited by 5 publications

References 44 publications

The Grocery Trolley Race in Times of Covid-19: Evidence from Italy

The Grocery Trolley Race in Times of Covid-19: Evidence from Italy

The Grocery Trolley Race in Times of Covid-19. Evidence from Italy

Food Retail Liberalization, Food Retail Structure and Food Prices: The Italian Case

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