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Exploring the Anatomy of Franchising: A Cross-National Examination of US and Finnish Franchise Contract Provisions

  • Conference paper
Economics and Management of Franchising Networks

Part of the book series: Contributions to Management Science ((MANAGEMENT SC.))

Abstract

The present study focuses on describing and comparing the provisions of the franchise contracts and pre-sale disclosures to prospective franchisees in the USA and Finland. A fact that makes the investigation especially interesting is that no franchising specific legislation exists in Finland. Whereas in the USA franchisors are by a directive of the Federal Trade Commission required to publicly disclose key information on their franchise systems. The information is of paramount importance for potential franchisees who need to analyze franchise offering(s) before their buying decision. Two separate samples were developed for the study. The member franchisors of the International Franchise Association and franchisors listed in Entrepreneur Magazine’s “Franchise 500” were sampled for the US data and in Finland the member franchisors of the Finnish Franchising Association were surveyed. The obtained data sets from the two countries were combined and then analyzed statistically to reveal differences and similarities between franchise contract characteristics. It was found that significant differences in franchise contract provisions occur and they have concrete consequences on franchisees’ business operations.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Business & Economics, University of Jyväskylä, P.O. Box 35, FIN-40351, Jyväskylä, Finland

    Mika Tuunanen

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  1. Mika Tuunanen
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Business Studies, University of Vienna, Brünner Straße 72, 1210, Vienna, Austria

    Josef Windsperger

  2. Center for Research on Economics and Management, University of Rennes 1, 11 rue Jean Macé, CS 70803, 35708, Rennes Cedex, France

    Gérard Cliquet

  3. Erasmus University Rotterdam, Rotterdam School of Management, Office F3-51 Burg. Oudlaan 50, 3000 DR, Rotterdam, The Netherlands

    George Hendrikse

  4. School of Business & Economics, University of Jyväskylä, P.O. Box 35 (MaE), 40351, Jyväskylä, Finland

    Mika Tuunanen (Research Fellow) (Research Fellow)

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© 2004 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Tuunanen, M. (2004). Exploring the Anatomy of Franchising: A Cross-National Examination of US and Finnish Franchise Contract Provisions. In: Windsperger, J., Cliquet, G., Hendrikse, G., Tuunanen, M. (eds) Economics and Management of Franchising Networks. Contributions to Management Science. Physica, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-7908-2662-3_16

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-7908-2662-3_16

  • Publisher Name: Physica, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-7908-0202-3

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-7908-2662-3

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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