Upgrade Market to Rice Exchange? An objective analysis

[Maltz]

Hello,

In this article we will objectively examine a recently brought-up topic (which must have existed for a long time) - whether it is more profitable to upgrade Markets to Rice Exchange or higher forms.

Upgrading market to higher-level buildings has the following pros and cons:

Pros
- Generates a steady income independent of town size
- Boosts town development in the province

Cons:
- Requires an initial investment
- Consumes food. Slows down town development in all provinces

Do the Pros outweigh the Cons? Let's first simplify the question to:

(1) Upgrade Markets to Rice Exchange
(2) Leave Markets in the basic form

Then if (1) proves more profitable, we will discuss whether to upgrade Rice Exchange further.

Market
- Provide +5 town growth bonus in the province
- +200 commerce in the province

Rice Exchange
- Provide +10 town growth bonus in the province
- +500 commerce
- Consumes 1 food
- Costs ~1500 koku (this value varies by the level of the Developmental Commissioner, etc.)

So essentially upgrading a Market to Rice Exchange is about:
(1) -1500 koku
(2) +300 commerce in the province
(3) +5 town growth in the province
(4) -1 food surplus