Spatial distribution of suburban ethnic businesses

Abstract

Based on a Toronto business data set collected in 1995 and 1996 Canadian census data, we studied spatial distribution of suburban Chinese business in Scarborough, Ontario. We explored the determinants of the spatial distribution of suburban ethnic business by drawing on literature from the human ecological perspective, the economic sociological perspective, and the organizational ecological perspective. Our results show that suburban ethnic business does not relate to most of the factors suggested by the human ecological perspective. On the contrary, consistent with the economic sociological perspective of ethnic economy, the results suggest the usefulness of linking structural elements in order to understand the spatial arrangements of ethnic economy even in suburban areas. The results also indicate the importance of organizational ecology in understanding the spatial distribution of suburban ethnic business. Implications of the results are discussed.