Entitlement Constraints on Franchise Systems: Evidence from System Acquisitions
研究发现收购特许经营体系后，特许权使用费往往提高，尤其是在多单元特许经营比重高或加盟店较老的体系中，表明解除权利约束可能是收购的重要动机或额外收益。
It has long been argued that acquisitions can enable new owners to make changes to target firms that target owners could not make due to implicit commitments to the target’s stakeholders. The empirical evidence for this idea has been thin, however. We develop evidence for it in data on acquisitions of entire franchise systems. We show that acquisition of these systems tends to result in higher royalty fees, especially in systems in which “entitlement constraints” bind more tightly, namely where multiunit franchising is emphasized and where franchise units are older. The implication is that relieving entitlement constraints may be an important motive for, or at least an additional benefit of, some acquisitions.