The purpose of the study is to determine whether vaccination rates and the use of franchising have an impact on the volatility of stock returns in the restaurant industry. Based on the agency and resource scarcity theories, this study first examines the effect of vaccinations against COVID-19 on a restaurant firm’s stock return volatilities caused by uncertainty during a crisis. The study further investigates whether firm-specific vaccination rates more greatly reduce stock return volatilities as the degree of franchising increases. With a two-way fixed-effects model, the study finds that the firm-specific vaccination rate reduces volatilities of the firm’s stock returns. However, the study also finds an opposite direction to the moderating effect of franchising in that the more a restaurant firm franchises, the further the risk-reduction effect of its vaccination rate diminishes. Theoretical and practical implications along with limitations are discussed.

该研究的目的是确定疫苗接种率和特许经营的使用是否对餐饮业股票回报的波动产生影响。基于代理和资源稀缺理论，本研究首先检验了 COVID-19 疫苗接种对危机期间不确定性导致的餐饮公司股票收益波动的影响。该研究进一步调查了随着特许经营程度的增加，特定公司的疫苗接种率是否会更大程度地降低股票收益波动性。通过双向固定效应模型，该研究发现公司特定的疫苗接种率降低了公司股票收益的波动性。然而，该研究还发现了与特许经营的调节作用相反的方向，即餐厅公司特许经营的次数越多，其疫苗接种率的降低风险作用进一步减弱。讨论了理论和实践意义以及局限性。