Glicker, Jake Jamal2014-09-182014-09-182014-03https://hdl.handle.net/1794/1824487 pages. A thesis presented to the Department of Economics and the Clark Honors College of the University of Oregon in partial fulfillment of the requirements for degree of Bachelor of Science, Spring 2014.Defined by an eclectic collection of food carts, the market for street food in Portland, Oregon experienced an explosive expansion from 2006 to 2011. I seek to understand why and how this growth occurred. My research identifies a unique combination of cultural, regulatory, and economic factors contributed to initial development and my econometric model of exit probability and robust firm-level dataset describe the characteristics of market growth. I interpret observed trends in the context of fundamental economic theories of industrial organization and market interaction, testing the applicability of theoretical microeconomic relationships in real-world scenarios.en-USAll Rights Reserved.EconomicsMarket analysisCompetitionIndustrial organizationMarket structureFood cartsStreet foodThesis / Dissertation