Based on the above discussion, the study described
here investigates the effect on restaurant failure of demographic
factors not relating directly to the owner, including
restaurant size, location (operationalized by ZIP code),
neighborhood characteristics, and nature of ownership
(chain or independent). We also look at the effect of restaurant
turnover at a specific site. Our study is motivated
by the following research questions, which we investigated
with the secondary data obtained from the local
health department.