가맹사업에서의 로열티 결정요인과 효과에 대한 탐색적 연구

Abstract

Royalty, a form of required payments made by the franchisee, is one of the most important sources of revenue for the franchisor. This study with empirical evidence analyzes what factors determine the royalty and how it affects the franchise business. In this regard, existing studies have mainly explained the determinants and effects of royalty in terms of the agency theory. However, this empirical analysis does not firmly support the viewpoint of the agency theory. As a result of analyzing the information disclosure documents registered with the Korea Fair Trade Commission in 2008 and 2016, many of the hypotheses set by this study based on the agency theory are rejected. The logistic regression analysis on whether to impose royalty and the multiple regression analyses on the alternative sources of franchisor revenue, initial franchise fee and initial costs of goods supplied by the franchisor, are employed. Among independent variables, the ratio of outlet closure, the number of new outlets, and the number of terminated outlets, are not all significantly related to royalties or alternative revenue sources. The initial contract period was significantly related to whether to impose royalty. The average sales of the franchisee, a measure of the input (capacity) of the franchisee, has a positive effect on whether to impose royalty as opposed to expectations. The geographical dispersion of the stores measuring the costs of monitoring franchisee has no significant relationship between whether to impose royalty and alternative revenue sources. Among the variables measuring the input (capacity) of the franchisor, the number of brands and the pre-opening training period required for the commencement of store operation have a positive effect on the imposition of royalties in line with the hypothesis. Contrary to expectations, the total number of stores is found to have a negative relationship with the royalties. Other variables related to the size and financial performance of the franchisor do not affect whether the royalty was imposed. Some variables have positive relationships with sources of alternative revenue. On the other hand, with regard to the effect of royalties, this study is expected to have a positive impact on the viability, size, and financial performance of the franchisor. On the contrary, the results of the analysis show that the royalties are not related to the survival of the franchisor, and the size and the financial performance of the franchisor also are not related to it. However, the larger the initial franchise fee, the larger the number of franchisor employees, the smaller the number of franchised outlets, and the smaller the number of new outlets. The results of this study are quite contrary to the existing theoretical and empirical results for determining the factors and effects of royalty. Based on these findings, this study reviews the limitations of existing theories and methodologies that explain the royalty from a critical perspective and presents some improvement directions on the reality of royalties in Korean franchise industry. First, it is necessary to actively promote the introduction of the royalty system. For the domestic franchise industry, an urgent settlement of the royalty system is needed as a way to enhance the transparency and fairness of trade between franchisors and franchisees. The decision to determine the royalty rate at a certain level may involve disagreements with the current franchisees, so a rational basis should be provided and the procedure for obtaining consent must be accompanied. Second, royalties need to be levied even if there is an alternative source of revenue. It is reasonable to impose royalty separately from the supply of goods, as royalty is a price for ongoing services to franchisee and the use of trademarks. It will contribute to prevent any recent conflicts (eg, over-specification of mandatory purchases or excessive transfer price of required items). Third, franchisors with higher reputation and excellent business competence should be active in introducing the royalties system and restructuring the franchise industry. Fourth, it is necessary to positively consider increasing the initial contract period. If a franchisor plans to impose the royalty, it may be desirable to redesign the contract with a longer contract due, taking into account the initial investments made by the franchisee.