Restaurant Organizational Forms and Community in the U.S. in 2005

Bibliographic Data

ID12765852
AuthorsGlenn R Carroll (0000-0001-7718-9348, Stanford University, corresponding author), Magnús Þór Torfason (0000-0002-0425-4898, Harvard University Press)
Year2011
Volume10
Issue1
Pages1-24
Publication date2011-02-10
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueCity and Community (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1535-6841 • E-ISSN: 1540-6040
PublisherSAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1111/j.1540-6040.2010.01350.x
OpenAlexW2160879768
LanguageEN
Citations received17
References cited51

Recent sociological theory and research highlights food, drink, and restaurants as culturally meaningful and related to social identity. An implication of this view holds that the prevalence of corporate chain restaurants affects the sociological character of communities, as many activists, popular–based movements, and theorists contend. The analysis we report here seeks to identify the ecological niche properties of chain and independent restaurants—which kinds of communities support restaurant chains, and which kinds of communities tend to support independent local restaurants and food service providers instead. We analyze data from a 2005 sample of 49 counties across the United States with over 17,000 active restaurants. We argue that demographic stability affects the community composition of organizational forms, and we also investigate arguments about a community's income distribution, age distribution, population trends, geographic sprawl, and commuter population. We find that communities with less stable demographic make–ups support more chain restaurants, but that other factors, including suburban sprawl and public transit commuter, also have some impact

Business · Demographic economics · Distribution (mathematics · Economic geography · Economics · Geography · Organizational ecology · Population · Sample (material · Social science · Sociology · Urban planning · Urban sprawl · Culinary Culture and Tourism · Demography · Organic Food and Agriculture · Wine Industry and Tourism · Ecology · Marketing