The DOI matches its Crossref record; 30 of the 30 references it cites were found in a registry or an index; none of the 39 sources its claims cite is checked for support yet.
Building Entrepreneurship in Subsistence Markets: Microfranchising as an Employment Incubator
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TL;DR
This exploratory field study compares Fanmilk microfranchisees with comparable standalone small businesses in Accra, Ghana, and finds microfranchisees recover startup costs faster and show a positive association between microfranchising and logged monthly profit. The authors interpret microfranchising as a low-risk employment incubator that creates starter jobs and builds basic business skills in subsistence markets.
Key findings
- In usable data from 92 Fanmilk microfranchisees and 130 standalone businesses, microfranchisees recovered startup costs in 1.6 months (SD = 2.7) versus 5.09 months (SD = 6.6) for standalone operators, F(1, 204) = 20.12, p < .001.
- Microfranchisees were younger (M = 27.5, SD = 8 vs. M = 32.3, SD = 10), had lower startup capital (M = 383,544 old Ghana Cedis ≈ USD$26.37 vs. M = 959,125 ≈ USD$65.95), and worked more hours per day (M = 12.5, SD = 2.8 vs. M = 10.8, SD = 2.5).
- OLS regression on ln(monthly profit) found a positive microfranchise dummy coefficient (B = .13, p < .05); the overall model was significant, F = 3.30, p < .001, R² = .18, p < .001. Startup costs, business age, previous business survival, and less than primary education also related significantly.
- The paper reports higher savings and lower debt for microfranchisees but says those differences were not statistically significant; education beyond secondary school was lower for microfranchisees (M = .03 vs. .10, F(1, 227) = 3.43, p < .10).
Methods
- Exploratory grounded-theory field study using Center for Economic Self-Reliance (CESR) interview data from 264 individuals in and around Accra, Ghana, May–July 2007; usable data came from 92 Fanmilk microfranchisees and 130 standalone kiosk/hawker businesses, all male.
- Interviewers randomly selected Fanmilk vendors at three of five depots between 7 and 10 am, then sought comparable standalone young male kiosk owners and street vendors in the same territories; the questionnaire was modeled after the World Bank Household Survey Household Enterprise module.
- Analysis used mean-difference tests and OLS regression of ln(monthly profit) on business model type plus controls including startup costs, business age, owner age at start, past business experience, marital status, education, literacy, and hours worked per day.
Limitations
- Stated: the study does not compare the same individual running a microfranchise and a standalone business and does not randomize business categories, so selection bias is possible; the sample was entirely male, limiting generalization to females or female-run businesses; and it investigates only one low-startup-cost, formal-economy-linked microfranchise with little advancement opportunity, so broader generalization is premature.
- Stated: selecting standalone businesses in this manner likely excluded more successful kiosks because of their size; the paper also notes it did not address limitations of the microfranchise model itself, including potential exploitative employment practices.
- Evident/stated: the data are cross-sectional and rely on self-reported sales/profit information that was difficult to collect, with some pre-adjustment data treated as missing and monthly profits log-transformed because they were right-skewed.
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Claims the paper makes
0 Valid · 0 Not valid · 25 Not checked · 61 Own results and interpretations
A result the paper reports from its own data — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Also, the positive correlation between businesses that survived beyond five years and having a post-secondary education (r = .30,p b .001)”
§ Building Entrepreneurship in Subsistence Markets: Microfranchising as an Employment Incubator > 5.1. Summary Statistics
plainstates an association- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: unclear — It is unclear whether the paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
A result the paper reports from its own data — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“The F ratio was F (1, 226) = 19.8,p b .001,suggesting that the microfranchisees were working two additional hours per day on average (M= 12.5, SD= 2.8) versus the standalone operators (M= 10.8, SD = 2.5).”
§ Building Entrepreneurship in Subsistence Markets: Microfranchising as an Employment Incubator > 5.1. Summary Statistics
hedgedstates an association- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: unclear — It is unclear whether the paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
A result the paper reports from its own data — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“The Fanmilk vendors in the sample had higher sales than similar street vendors and they worked more hours per day.”
§ Building Entrepreneurship in Subsistence Markets: Microfranchising as an Employment Incubator > 7. Discussion
plainstates an association- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
A result the paper reports from its own data — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“In this case, the microfranchisees had lower average startup costs (measured in old Ghanian Cedis) by almost one-third (M= 383,544 (USD$26.37),SD = 158,836 (USD$10.92)) in comparison to the mean costs for the standalone businesses (M= 959,125 (USD$65.95),SD= 139,914 (USD$9.62).”
§ Building Entrepreneurship in Subsistence Markets: Microfranchising as an Employment Incubator > 5.1. Summary Statistics
plainstates an association- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
A result the paper reports from its own data — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Although the means for savings and marital status were higher for microfranchises (higher numbers in marital status equate to single status) and the means for debt were lower, the differences in these variables were not statistically significant.”
§ Building Entrepreneurship in Subsistence Markets: Microfranchising as an Employment Incubator > 5.1. Summary Statistics
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: unclear — It is unclear whether the paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
34 more claims
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- Probably not a substantial claim. 31
- The quote only partly states this claim. 1
Self-check
Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.
Each contradiction between two passages listed here was confirmed by an independent check.
Rated minor: it would not touch a result — a value no result rests on, a p-value that stays on the same side of the significance level, or a conflict that is clerical, resolved elsewhere in the paper, or outside its own findings.
In the paper
§ Building Entrepreneurship in Subsistence Markets: Microfranchising as an Employment Incubator > 5.1. Summary Statistics
“they work more hours and have less debt and more savings as compared to the standalone businessmen.”
§ Building Entrepreneurship in Subsistence Markets: Microfranchising as an Employment Incubator > 8. Limitations, Future Research, and Conclusion
“| Microfranchise N | 90 | 90 | 92 | 71 | 77 | | | | Mean | .08 | .20 | 12.47 | 911,338 3,870,935 | | | | Median | .00 | .00 | 12.5 | 0 1,450,000 | | | | Std. Dev. .269 | .45 | 2.85 | 5,986,477 8,134,592 | | | | Standalone | N | 136 | 136 | 136 | 128 | 96 | | | Mean | .16 | .27 | 10.85 | 487,031 2,589,454 | |”
Rated minor: it would not touch a result — a value no result rests on, a p-value that stays on the same side of the significance level, or a conflict that is clerical, resolved elsewhere in the paper, or outside its own findings.
In the paper
§ Building Entrepreneurship in Subsistence Markets: Microfranchising as an Employment Incubator > 5.1. Summary Statistics
“M= 959,125 (USD$65.95),SD= 139,914 (USD$9.62)”
§ Building Entrepreneurship in Subsistence Markets: Microfranchising as an Employment Incubator > 8. Limitations, Future Research, and Conclusion
“| | Std. Dev. 2,055,479 9,447 | 1,399,147 .22 | 6.66 | | | |”
Rated minor: it would not touch a result — a value no result rests on, a p-value that stays on the same side of the significance level, or a conflict that is clerical, resolved elsewhere in the paper, or outside its own findings.
In the paper
§ Building Entrepreneurship in Subsistence Markets: Microfranchising as an Employment Incubator > 5.1. Summary Statistics
“M= 383,544 (USD$26.37),SD = 158,836 (USD$10.92)”
§ Building Entrepreneurship in Subsistence Markets: Microfranchising as an Employment Incubator > 8. Limitations, Future Research, and Conclusion
“| | Std. Dev. 2,015,789 8,444 | 1,588,365 0 | 2.71 | | | |”
Citations
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The End of Poverty: Economic Possibilities for Our Time
Cooper, R. N., & Sachs, J. D. (2005) · Foreign Affairs · doi:10.2307/20034362 · Cited by 1,642
The Elusive Quest for Growth: Economists' Adventures and Misadventures in the Tropics
Mitra, D., & Easterly, W. (2002) · Southern Economic Journal · doi:10.2307/1061505 · Cited by 1,493
The End of Poverty: Economic Possibilities for Our Time
Peet, R. (2006) · Annals of the Association of American Geographers · doi:10.1111/j.1467-8306.2006.00493.x · Cited by 1,398
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Entrepreneurship, economic development and institutions
Acs, Z. J., Desai, S., & Hessels, J. (2008) · Small Business Economics · doi:10.1007/s11187-008-9135-9 · Cited by 1,195
How to Change the World: Social Entrepreneurs and the Power of New Ideas
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The fortune at the bottom of the pyramid
(2005) · Choice Reviews Online · doi:10.5860/choice.43-1063 · Cited by 975
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Research works printed but not linked: 1
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Cited by
Franchising research on emerging markets: Bibliometric and content analyses
Bretas, V. P. G., & Alon, I. (2021) · Journal of Business Research · doi:10.1016/j.jbusres.2021.04.067 · Cited by 276
Kistruck, G. M., Webb, J. W., Sutter, C. J., & Ireland, R. D. (2011) · Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice · doi:10.1111/j.1540-6520.2011.00446.x · Cited by 165
The Scramble for Africans: Demography, Globalisation and Africa’s Informal Labour Markets
Meagher, K. (2016) · The Journal of Development Studies · doi:10.1080/00220388.2015.1126253 · Cited by 146
Kistruck, G. M., Sutter, C. J., Lount, R. B., & Smith, B. R. (2012) · Academy of Management Journal · doi:10.5465/amj.2011.0336 · Cited by 105
Creating Social Value for the ‘Base of the Pyramid’: An Integrative Review and Research Agenda
Lashitew, A. A., Narayan, S., Rosca, E., & Bals, L. (2021) · Journal of Business Ethics · doi:10.1007/s10551-020-04710-2 · Cited by 101
Metadata
- Authors
- Christensen, L. J., Parsons, H., & Fairbourne, J.
- Affiliations
- University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (US)
- Columbia University (US)
- Brigham Young University (US)
- Corresponding author
- Christensen, Lisa Jones
- Parsons, Helen
- Venue
- Journal of Business Research
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2010-06
- Volume
- 63
- Issue
- 6
- Pages
- 595-601
- ISSN
- 0148-2963 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2047137140
- Semantic Scholar
- 131f4e852a4fb5782e65a76c754cd39f28a1dd80
- Cited by
- 118
- References
- 30
- Citations by year
- 2026: 4 · 2025: 4 · 2024: 7 · 2023: 3 · 2022: 10 · 2021: 11 · 2020: 11 · 2019: 9 · 2018: 8 · 2017: 10 · 2016: 14 · 2015: 6 · 2014: 9 · 2013: 4 · 2012: 2
- FWCI
- 5.32
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- Licence
- www.elsevier.com/tdm/userlicense/1.0/ (tdm)
- Locations
- Journal of Business Research (publishedVersion)
- ScholarsArchive (Brigham Young University) (submittedVersion)
- RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Business, Management and Accounting › Business and International Management › Innovation and Socioeconomic Development
- Social Sciences › Business, Management and Accounting › Strategy and Management › Franchising Strategies and Performance
- Social Sciences › Business, Management and Accounting › Management of Technology and Innovation › Entrepreneurship Studies and Influences
- Keywords
- microfranchising, subsistence markets, job creation, low-income entrepreneurs, barriers to entry, informal economy, Accra, Ghana
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Data sources
Bibliographic data: Semantic Scholar, OpenAlex, Crossref.
Contains information from the Semantic Scholar Academic Graph Datasets, made available under the ODC Attribution License (ODC-BY 1.0).
Semantic Scholar’s data is described in: Kinney, R., et al. (2023). The Semantic Scholar Open Data Platform. arXiv:2301.10140.
