Investigates the effect of five company-specific independent variables on the decision of professional business service franchisors to internationalize their operations. A model using resource-based theories and agency theories for its theoretical foundation is developed and tested. The results indicate that internal characteristics of the franchising system, especially the number of outlets, significantly influence the intention of domestic franchisors to seek franchisees overseas.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the influence of environmental factors on international franchising, and to offer a normative model to evaluate the international franchising environment. Using correlation analysis, this study finds that environmental factors including economic, demographic, cultural and political factors are related to and may influence the decision of franchisers to expand their operations in a host country. The study suggests that franchising practitioners conduct an environmental analysis of the foreign market that, at minimum, will integrate the variables discussed in this paper.

Economists have had little to say concerning the impact of Edge Cities in metropolitan complexes, much less about how they relate to the economy in general. The present paper is aimed at those concerns. It begins with a general overview of the Edge City concept as put forward by Joel Garreau. Following that it discusses metropolitan change in a pre-Edge City format. It then considers Edge Cities in the context of growth poles and discusses their role in providing economic linkages that facilitate change. The intent is to provide a better understanding of the impact of Edge Cities upon host metropolitan areas and the economy at large.