Incidence of Plural Forms in Franchise Networks: Exploratory Comparative Empirical Insights from USA, France, and Brazil

This paper explores the incidence of the phenomenon of plural forms (i.e., the simultaneous co-existence of franchised and company-owned outlets) in franchising across three countries from three continents, namely, the United States, France and Brazil in what is ostensibly the first cross-cultural comparison of its kind. Drawing on 2003 secondary data taken from the Entrepreneur's Annual Franchise 500 (2004) for USA, the 2004 Guide of Opportunities in Franchising published by the Institute of Franchising for Brazilian data and the 2004 Franchising Directory published by the French Federation of Franchising for French data, we carry out a series of inferentially-grounded analyses involving the plural forms phenomenon from an exploratory perspective. Although, subsequently, comparative regression models are also evaluated using various purported determinants of the incidence of the plural forms, the character of the paper remains essentially exploratory. The results show that the proportion of company-owned outlets is almost three times greater in France and Brazil as compared to the U.S.; in addition, the three countries differ along a number of related variables, buttressing the need for mounting additional and more expansive cross-cultural investigations.