Client: ALAC

Date: May 2007

Author(s): Adrian Slack, Dr Ganesh Nana and Jiani Wu

This report investigates the impact of new retail outlet types, in particular supermarkets, on liquor pricing and sales in New Zealand. The report provides a theoretical framework for considering liquor market regulation and why new retailer types may disrupt the use of conventional tools, such as excise taxes. The report also describes trends in key aggregate data and for specific products around supermarkets’ entry into the liquor retail market. This research is an initial step in ALAC’s research programme to investigate appropriate regulatory responses to the effects of new retailer types in the liquor market. A related piece of research is, Liquor Market Regulation: Literature Scoping Report (BERL reference #4592).

BERL #4538