Franchising in the Balkans: History, status, and challenges

Abstract

Since the Balkans have not been covered with regards to franchising in any comprehensive fashion in the past, this study represents a first look at the topic in this part of the world and contributes to the literature on franchising in emerging economies. This research contrasts the development of franchising in the ten Balkan countries of Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro, Romania, Serbia, and Slovenia. A comprehensive overview of the franchise industry and its history is created for each country, integrating economic and franchise infrastructure development. The study reveals severe deficiencies in the region with regards to the availability of official data and a lack of specific legislation with regards to franchising and disclosure mandates, as well as education about franchising and a reliable legal environment. Implications for researchers and policy makers conclude the study.

Keywords:

• Franchising
• Balkan Peninsula
• Eastern Europe
• legislation
• emerging economies

Acknowledgments

The authors express their gratitude to Ms. Jordyn Reitz and Ms. Sofia M. Delgado Pacherres for their assistance with this article.

Notes

1 Kosovo declared its independence from Serbia in 2008. While it has been recognized by many countries, Serbia still contests its independent status.

2 For the purposes of this article, Macedonia refers to North Macedonia, the country’s official title. It does not refer to the region of Greece by the same name which is not part of the Balkan Peninsula as defined in this article.

Additional information

Funding

This article was partially supported by the University of Rijeka—Project ZP UNIRI 9/17.