A Comparison of Ethnic Businesses in Suburbs and City

Abstract

We extend research on ethnic businesses by comparing the distribution of ethnic businesses in suburbs and city. The study is drawn from a recently compiled data set of Chinese businesses in Toronto. Drawing from four diverse and different sets of literature on ethnic businesses and urban forms, we identify factors that may affect the geographic distribution of ethnic business. The results clearly indicate a substantial presence of ethnic businesses in the suburban areas. They also suggest that Chinese businesses are more clustered in suburban neighborhoods. The multivariate analyses further show that the distribution of Chinese businesses in suburban and city neighborhoods is affected by different sets of factors, which possibly reflect the different effects of suburban and city spatial forms.