My research

I am interested in studying local entrepreneurs and businesses; the small, mundane entities (e.g., cafés,
bakeries, drycleaners) that are often overlooked but which, nevertheless, form the backbone of local communities and economies, and can play a crucial role in addressing societal inequality and marginalization. My research primarily examines entrepreneurs' strategic behavior (e.g., location decisions, product and price selection) as well as audience's evaluation of them. I use both quantitative and qualitative methods in my empirical work.

IAS Fellowship 

Do neighbourhood businesses alleviate or reproduce urban inequality?

Cities around the world face growing spatial inequality, stark disparities in social and economic conditions across space. Surprisingly little research has examined the role of neighbourhood businesses as a contributing factor, even though these businesses are both shaped by, and shape, the communities in which they operate. Urban sociology emphasises that local businesses support employment, social interactions, and community cohesion, while organization theory indicates that businesses enter and survive where resources are already concentrated. If both are true, the spatial distribution of neighborhood businesses may become a self-reinforcing pathway that exacerbates urban inequality.

Importantly, these dynamics likely differ across business types. Discretionary establishments (e.g., cafés, specialty shops) depend on disposable income and local preferences, making them prone to cluster in resource-abundant areas. Necessity establishments (e.g., groceries, pharmacies) serve routine needs and may be more spatially distributed once baseline demand is met.

The goal of this project is to develop and test a theoretical model indicating when and how neighborhood businesses function as a mechanism to alleviate spatial inequality, or instead, when they reproduce the spatial divide by concentrating where resources are already abundant.