Survival of new and small retail businesses facing mega-retailers in non-metropolitan areas—The case of Walmart in the province of Quebec

The aim of this paper is to study the impact of Walmart's entry on the survival of new and small retail businesses within non-metropolitan areas in the province of Quebec. To do so, the study covers the years 1999–2007 and focuses on four non-metropolitan cities. These include two Walmart entry cities, Rimouski and Salaberry-de-Valleyfield, and two other cities, where no Walmart was present during the study period, La Pocatière and Sorel-Tracy. The results of a difference-in-differences analysis, conducted through a semi-parametric Cox proportional hazards model, reveal that the entry of Walmart decreases the risk of closure of the new and small retail businesses.