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Abstract
AbstractFoodservice businesses- restaurants, caterers, bars, recreational centers, bakeries and similar other
establishments suffer closures due to internal and external factors. This study compares survival
rates and evaluates the impact of chain affiliation, and health inspection scores on the closures of
four different segments of foodservice businesses in Athens, Georgia, from the year 2000 to 2020.
It utilizes non-parametric Kaplan-Meier Survival analysis to determine the survival rates of total
841 businesses born, died and censored within the study period. It was observed that the restaurants
having chain affiliation and higher inspection grades positively affected the probability of survival
and, limited-service restaurants were found to have greater longevity than full-service restaurants,
bars, pubs, taverns and the other segments of foodservice sector. It also utilized Cox’s proportional- hazard
regression and identified significant impact of chain affiliation and grades on
the closure of foodservice businesses in Athens.