Communities worldwide are increasingly introducing regulatory measures to protect independent businesses from chain stores, but the efficacy of these attempts is largely debated. Moreover, effects are likely to vary by the characteristics of the local economy, a consideration overlooked by existing studies. Using a sample of U.S. cities with unique community characteristics, the authors examine Formula Business Restrictions (FBR), a type of an American land use regulation that restricts the entry of “formula businesses.” The authors find that the passage of FBR led to a higher number and percentage of employees working in mom-and-pop businesses, which was primarily achieved by protecting existing ones from downsizing. This positive effect occurred over time with increasing magnitude. The authors also find heterogeneous effects on different sectors: FBR had strong positive effects on the retail sector, but not on the service sector. Findings suggest that chain store entry barriers can be beneficial for mom-and-pop businesses when designed carefully.

世界各地的社区越来越多地采取监管措施来保护独立企业免受连锁店的侵害，但这些尝试的有效性尚有争议。此外，影响可能会因当地经济特征而异，这是现有研究所忽略的考虑因素。作者使用具有独特社区特征的美国城市样本，研究了公式商业限制（FBR），这是一种限制“公式商业”进入的美国土地使用法规。作者发现，FBR的通过导致了从事流行音乐业务的员工数量和百分比的增加，这主要是通过保护现有员工免遭裁员而实现的。随着时间的流逝，这种积极的影响越来越大。作者还发现了对不同部门的不同影响：FBR对零售业产生了积极的积极影响，但对服务业却没有。研究结果表明，经过精心设计，连锁店的进入壁垒对夫妻商店可能是有益的。