TY - JOUR
T1 - An Exploration of the Legal Meaning of Franchising
AU - Crawford-Spencer, Elizabeth
PY - 2013/4
Y1 - 2013/4
N2 - There is no one settled definition of franchising. Its meaning is interpreted differently depending on discipline, jurisdiction, and the particular application or structure of the franchise arrangement in any given context. This article surveys the elements of statutory definitions of franchising in the law of jurisdictions that have enacted franchise-specific legislation, and it interprets these elements with a focus on the ways in which they reflect the quality of franchisee reliance upon and vulnerability to the franchisor's business, system, management, policies, and operations. This dependency of a franchisee's business upon that of its franchisor is idiosyncratic to franchising, and, along with related issues of alignment of interests, is well documented in the academic literature. Existing statutory definitions, however, may fail to adequately capture this essential element, with the risk that legislation may fall short of accurately and fully addressing this aspect of the relationship.
AB - There is no one settled definition of franchising. Its meaning is interpreted differently depending on discipline, jurisdiction, and the particular application or structure of the franchise arrangement in any given context. This article surveys the elements of statutory definitions of franchising in the law of jurisdictions that have enacted franchise-specific legislation, and it interprets these elements with a focus on the ways in which they reflect the quality of franchisee reliance upon and vulnerability to the franchisor's business, system, management, policies, and operations. This dependency of a franchisee's business upon that of its franchisor is idiosyncratic to franchising, and, along with related issues of alignment of interests, is well documented in the academic literature. Existing statutory definitions, however, may fail to adequately capture this essential element, with the risk that legislation may fall short of accurately and fully addressing this aspect of the relationship.
KW - contractual relationship
KW - dependency
KW - franchising
KW - meaning
KW - power
KW - statutory definition
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84873648306&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1080/1046669X.2013.747858
DO - 10.1080/1046669X.2013.747858
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84873648306
VL - 20
SP - 25
EP - 51
JO - Journal of Marketing Channels
JF - Journal of Marketing Channels
SN - 1046-669X
IS - 1-2
ER -