Reports from the Independent Business Initiative
Boxed Out: How Big Retailers are Flexing Their Supply Chain Power to Kill Off Small Businesses
Stacy Mitchell
September 22, 2022
Other Recent Reports
Report: How New Federal Antimerger Guidelines Can Roll Back Corporate Concentration and Build Local Power
June 29, 2022
Earlier this year the Federal Trade Commission and the Department of Justice announced plans to revise their merger guidelines, setting the stage for a new era in antitrust regulation. ILSR's new report details how new federal antimerger guidelines can restore READ MORE
Issue Brief: Why the 21st Century Antitrust Act is Critical for New York Small Businesses
Katy Milani
May 19, 2022
Rampant market power abuse is endangering the economic dynamism that New York small businesses generate. State lawmakers have an opportunity to level the playing field. READ MORE
2022 Independent Business Survey: Top Challenges and Policy Priorities
ILSR
March 30, 2022
ILSR surveyed 908 small, independent businesses across across the country. We asked about the challenges they face and the policies they believe would improve the survival and success of independent businesses. READ MORE
2022 Independent Business Survey: Snapshot of Amazon Marketplace Sellers
ILSR
March 30, 2022
When we surveyed over 900 small, independent businesses across the U.S., 94 reported being third-party sellers on Amazon’s Marketplace. This is a snapshot of their responses. READ MORE
Issue Brief: Handcuffed by the Courts
Ron Knox
March 8, 2022
Beginning in the late 1970s, a series of Supreme Court cases upended U.S. antitrust laws — laws that were once the linchpin of a comprehensive, democratic check on corporate power. This issue brief traverses the history and argues that Congress m READ MORE
Report: Small Business's Big Moment
Kennedy Smith
January 24, 2022
One of the biggest challenges facing America’s towns and cities is leveling the playing field for small businesses. Our new report shows how civic leaders can use the American Rescue Plan to do just that, which will provide communities and l READ MORE
Report: Amazon's Toll Road
December 1, 2021
Amazon is exploiting its position as a gatekeeper to impose steep and growing fees on the small businesses that must rely on its site to reach the online market, our new report finds. Even as these exorbitant fees bankrupt sellers, READ MORE
Issue Brief: How Amazon Exploits and Undermines Small Businesses, and Why Breaking It Up Would Revive American Entrepreneurship
June 16, 2021
In splashy campaigns and lobbying at the Capitol, Amazon claims that it has “a mutually beneficial relationship” with the small businesses that depend on its platform. This fact sheet tells the real story, and explains what Congress needs to do. READ MORE
Special Delivery: Our Report Shows How Local Delivery Services are Superior to the Big Apps
Kennedy Smith
May 25, 2021
Unlike the predatory Wall Street-backed apps, local delivery services charge lower fees, support restaurants, keep wealth in the community, and demonstrate that when it comes to food delivery, local delivery models are better and more efficient. READ MORE
Rebuilding Small Business for a Robust Recovery: A Federal Policy Agenda
December 3, 2020
In this policy brief, we argue that moving aggressively to rebuild small, independent businesses and reverse the concentration of corporate power would produce a more vigorous, equitable, and stable recovery. We lay out two dozen policy recommendations across a 6-point READ MORE
Policy Brief: Local and State Governments Have Marshalled $9.27 Billion for Small Business Relief
Kennedy Smith
October 19, 2020
Our research has found that cities, counties, states, and community organizations have established more than 800 programs to provide financial assistance to small businesses in the wake of the pandemic. These programs have deployed more than $9.27 billion in grants READ MORE
Report: 26 Actions Local Leaders Can Take to Help Small Businesses Weather the Pandemic
Kennedy Smith
July 29, 2020
ILSR's latest report describes 26 actions that community leaders — including local governments, local business groups, nonprofit organizations, business improvement districts, and other entities — can adopt to help small businesses weather the crisis. READ MORE
Report: Amazon's Monopoly Tollbooth
July 28, 2020
In this report, we find that Amazon is exploiting its gatekeeper power to impose ever-larger fees on third-party sellers. READ MORE
Our Guide Gives State and Local Leaders Tools to Fight Corporate Monopolies
Jess Del Fiacco
July 15, 2020
As state and local leaders grapple with how to create a true recovery — one that lifts wages, fosters small businesses, and rebalances power — combating outsized corporate power is a key strategy. Check out ILSR's guide to antimonopoly policies for READ MORE
Report: Fewer Small Businesses are Receiving Federal Relief Loans in States Dominated by Big Banks
April 29, 2020
A significantly larger number of federal relief loans are reaching small businesses in states where small, local banks comprise a greater share of the market, compared to states where big banks are more dominant, an ILSR analysis has found. READ MORE
Survey: Independent Businesses See Major Threats in Amazon, Corporate Concentration
ILSR
August 6, 2019
ILSR's Independent Business Survey offers insight and guidance to elected officials looking to build a more equitable, entrepreneurial, competitive, and dynamic economy. READ MORE
Report: Walmart’s Monopolization of Local Grocery Markets
June 26, 2019
In 43 metropolitan areas and 160 smaller markets, Walmart controls 50 percent or more of the local grocery market. No other corporation in history has ever amassed this degree of control over the U.S. food system. Our findings provide a READ MORE
Dollar Stores Are Targeting Struggling Urban Neighborhoods and Small Towns. One Community Is Showing How to Fight Back.
December 6, 2018
Although dollar stores sometimes fill a need in places that lack basic retail services, there’s growing evidence that these stores are not merely a byproduct of economic distress. They’re a cause of it. In small towns and urban neighborhoods alike, dol READ MORE
Report: Amazon’s Next Frontier: Your City’s Purchasing
July 10, 2018
A national contract opens the way for Amazon to take over billions of dollars in local government spending. In this report, we examine the contract and find serious concerns — including that it leaves local governments at risk of being r READ MORE
Report: Amazon’s Monopoly
November 29, 2016
Amazon is destroying competition and market diversity, leaving us with fewer choices, less innovation, and diminished opportunities. READ MORE
Amazon’s Stranglehold: How the Company's Tightening Grip on the Economy Is Stifling Competition, Eroding Jobs, and Threatening Communities
November 29, 2016
Amazon has extended its tentacles across our economy. In this report, we pull back the curtain on the company, and find that it's at the center of increasing inequality and diminishing opportunity, and that it's concentrating power in ways that READ MORE
Report: Monopoly Power and the Decline of Small Business
August 10, 2016
Small businesses have been in steep decline. In this report, we argue that anticompetitive behavior by large, dominant corporations is largely to blame and present three reasons to bring a commitment to fair markets for small businesses back into antitrust READ MORE
How Rising Commercial Rents Are Threatening Independent Businesses, and What Cities Are Doing About It
Olivia LaVecchia
April 20, 2016
As the cost of leasing commercial space soars in many U.S. cities, this report examines what's behind the skyrocketing rents and explores six broad policy strategies that cities are proposing to keep space appropriate and affordable for independent businesses. READ MORE