Dissertation
From combat to commerce: evidence from franchise firms on performance and economic outcomes in veteran entrepreneurship
Doctor of Business Administration (D.B.A.), Drexel University
May 2026
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17918/00011439
Abstract
Over 200,000 service members transition from the U.S. military each year, yet fewer than 11 percent pursue entrepreneurship, and veteran business ownership has declined 26 percent in just five years. Despite growing federal interest in veteran economic contributions, the public data infrastructure cannot measure what it cannot see: veteran-owned businesses are too small a share of local economies to survive Census Bureau disclosure thresholds, rendering their economic activity invisible at the metropolitan level. This invisibility is not a footnote. It is the finding. Grounded in Occupational Choice Theory and Self-Determination Theory, this study employs a fixed-effects panel regression design to analyze U.S. Census Bureau Annual Business Survey data across 401 Metropolitan Statistical Areas from 2019 to 2023. Nine hierarchical models test the relationship between veteran ownership concentration, franchise business concentration, and MSA-level employment, payroll, and revenue. Franchise concentration is significantly associated with higher MSA-level employment ([beta] = 0.764, SE = 0.373, p = .041), while veteran ownership concentration does not produce detectable aggregate effects, a finding consistent with scale limitations rather than absence of economic value. Supplementary national-level analysis reveals that veteran-owned franchise firms generated 38 percent more revenue per firm than non-veteran franchise firms in 2023, with the revenue efficiency gap narrowing 72 percent over the study period. These findings together establish the empirical foundation for three policy imperatives: building public data infrastructure capable of making veteran entrepreneurship measurable at the local level; creating structured franchise ownership pathways that address the income continuity barrier preventing transitioning service members from choosing business ownership over employment; and implementing outcome tracking so that veterans who pursue entrepreneurship are supported by evidence rather than rendered invisible by the systems designed to help them.
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Details
- Title
- From combat to commerce
- Creators
- Natalie D. Foster
- Contributors
- Lauren D'Innocenzo (Advisor)
- Awarding Institution
- Drexel University
- Degree Awarded
- Doctor of Business Administration (D.B.A.)
- Publisher
- Drexel University
- Number of pages
- xi, 110 pages
- Resource Type
- Dissertation
- Language
- English
- Academic Unit
- Bennett S. LeBow College of Business; Drexel University
- Other Identifier
- 991022189166904721