Franchising structure changes and shareholder value: Evidence from store buybacks and refranchising
基于代理理论和交易成本分析，研究了加盟企业回购和重新加盟下游零售门店对股东价值（股票回报）的影响，并分析了企业和行业因素的调节作用。
Drawing on agency theory and transaction cost analysis, this study investigates the impact of refranchising and buybacks of downstream retail units by franchising firms on shareholder value (i.e., stock returns). It further evaluates the contingency role of firm and industry factors in shaping this impact. An event study analysis over the years 2001-2020 confirms that both refranchising and buybacks positively affect stock returns. However, notable impact differences emerge between the two types of strategic decisions. For refranchising, firms with lower royalty rates, smaller returns-on-assets (ROA), and higher trade credit provided generate higher stock returns. Whereas, for buybacks, firms with higher royalty rates derive more value in stock markets. Analysis further shows that investors judge refranchising (buybacks) less (more) favorably in munificent industries, but industry dynamism has no effect on the stock returns generated from these moves. Together, the study offers important implications for franchising theory and retail practice in marketing. Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11747-022-00921-3.