Spatial determinants of urban wet market vendor profit in Nanjing, China

Abstract

Wet markets play an important role in urban food security in many Asian countries. Although the American Planning Association (APA) proposed in 2007 that food planning should focus on the business status and potential of food retailing, existing research pays more attention to the food accessibility of urban residents and limited research has been conducted on the profit of wet market vendors and factors determining its spatial variations. Therefore, a three-agent analytical framework for determinants of urban wet market vendor profit was developed. Based on the survey data of 1,119 small food enterprises in Nanjing, this study employs the spatial analytical method Geodetector to explore the spatial differentiation of the vendor's profits and its determinants. The study shows obvious spatial differentiation in the profits of wet market vendors across the city and draws several conclusions. Profitability is mainly related to the demographic features of vendors, their business expenses, and payment schemes. It is also related to broader socioeconomic factors at the district level, including local GDP, average income, urban infrastructure, and number of residential neighborhoods. The characteristics of vendors and their businesses have a more significant relationship with business profit than district socio-economic factors. There is also a strong mutual enhancement effect among these factors. Almost all identified determinants of profitability are stronger in peri-urban than urban areas. Therefore, there is greater potential for increasing peri-urban vendors' profits by changing these variables.