Public policy and the establishment of large stores in Belgium

Abstract

Abstract Belgian public policy towards retailing has been viewed as being politically motivated and frustrating the ambitions of large retailers by being biased towards independent retailers. This paper analyses the impact of the Business Premises Act on the development of supermarkets and hypermarkets. It concludes that the Act has had an impact although this may have been an unintended one in that retailers have changed behaviour to surmount the Act.