Much ado about chains: A research agenda

• Published in: International journal of industrial organization Vol. 30; no. 3; pp. 303 - 308
• Main Authors: Kosová, Renáta, Lafontaine, Francine
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Amsterdam Elsevier B.V 01.05.2012; Elsevier Sequoia S.A
• Subjects: Business growth; Censuses; Chain stores; Empirical; Franchising; Growth; Industrial economics; Networks; Retail trade; Retailing; Service industry; Services; Studies; Utilities; United States > US; Franchising; Services; L1; Growth; L2; Empirical; Retailing; L8; Performance
• ISSN: 0167-7187; 1873-7986
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ijindorg.2011.12.010

We discuss recent research on the growth of chains in the retail and service sectors, and point out the role of franchising in these industries, using new data on franchising collected by the U.S. Census Bureau. We then discuss several topics that one can analyze with data on chains, and highlight the advantages of using such data. Our hope is to entice other researchers to consider chains, and franchised chains, as a context for their own empirical research, and thus also improve our understanding of the sectors where these firms operate. ► We discuss research on the growth of chains in the retail and service sectors. ► We quantify the role of franchising in these industries using new Census Bureau data. ► We discuss advantages of data on chains in empirical research. ► We present examples of non-traditional questions that can be addressed with such data.