Abstract
In this paper we investigate the economic effects of deregulation of shop opening hours legislation. The theoretical literature is rather mixed about the possible effects of such a policy. Using an empirical model for optimal retail behavior, it is shown that the economic potential can be high. It is demonstrated that employment goes up mainly because of an increase in threshold labor. However, the magnitude of this effect depends on the average number of additional hours as a consequence of deregulation. Therefore, by using the model for optimal retail behavior an optimal rule for extending opening hours is given. This rule implies that the potential for longer opening hours is high. It is, however, shown that in the noncooperative equilibrium this potential is higher than in the cooperative equilibrium, and that large-scale stores gain more from this deregulation.
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Gradus, R. The economic effects of extending shop opening hours. Zeitschr. f. Nationalökonomie 64, 247–263 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01250128
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01250128