Should Trade Open on Sundays? An Analysis of the Social, Economic and Managerial Implications

This paper analyzes trade opening on Sundays. It's based upon two studies: i) a Canadian study that utilized time series from one of the Country's provinces to infer that opening on Sundays does not bring about an increase in the overall retail sales; ii) a Brazilian study that outlines the consumers' profile in relation to their attitude about the opening of stores on Sundays. In the Brazilian study, the decision tree was applied to identify the groups of people more or less favorable to this situation. From the economic point of view it was concluded that it neither generated an expressive number of jobs nor a significant increase in the economic activity. Furthermore, the operational costs steep up, in detriment especially of the small businesses. It was concluded that it is necessary the action of the State to promote a more harmonious situation.