The objective of this research is to provide a better understanding
of the impact of franchise regulation on the incidence,
nature, and outcomes of franchisor-franchisee conflict.
Our work acknowledges the significant impact of the
institutional context in which businesses operate (Dant and
Schul 1992; Grewal and Dharwadkar 2002) and extends
prior research on channel conflict by identifying the drivers
and consequences of serious conflict between channel partners.
We next discuss how the regulatory context frames
franchisors' and franchisees' litigation choices both by itself
and in combination with fi-anchisors' ownership structure and
explore the theoretical and managerial implications thereof.
Our findings inform marketers about an important public
policy issue regarding a critical sector of the economy.