Political imperatives, of course, underlie a country’s
economic and regulatory policies. In the case of franchising,
increasing government recognition of the small
and medium enterprise (SME) development credentials
of franchising has led to increasingly favorable policy
parameters. There is increasing recognition on the part
of governments in developing countries of franchising’s
‘‘significant social and economic contribution of importance
to the whole society,’’1 which has led to legal and economic reforms that make franchising possible. More
than the introduction of appropriate policy platforms to
support franchising may, nevertheless, be required to
nurture and promote sector development.