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Institutional theorists treat law and regulations as external factors that is part of the organization’s environment. While institutional theory has been criticized for its inability to recognize the role of agents and to theorize agency, the growing literature on institutional work and institutional entrepreneurship, partially informed by and co-produced with practice theory, advances a more dynamic view of processes of institutionalization. In order to cope with legal and regulatory frameworks, constituting the legal environment of the organization, there are evidence of organizational responses in the form of bargaining, political negotiations, and decoupling of organizational units and processes. The purpose of this paper is to report how legal and regulatory frameworks both shape clinical practices while at the same time they are also informed by the activities and interests of professional communities and commercial clinics.

This paper reports an empirical study of the Swedish-assisted conception industry and is based on a case study methodology including the use of interviews and formal documents and reports issues by governmental agencies.

The empirical material demonstrates how scientists in reproductive medicine and clinicians regard the legal and regulatory framework as what ensures and reinforces the quality of the therapies. At the same time, they actively engage to modify the legal and regulatory framework in the case when they believe it would benefit the patients. The data reported presents one successful case of how PGD/PGS can be used to develop the efficacy of the therapy, and one unsuccessful case of regulatory change in the case of patient interest groups advocating a legalization of commercial gestational surrogacy. In the former case, scientific know-how and medicinal benefits served to “push” the new clinical practice, while in the latter case, the “demand-pull” of patient interest groups fails to get recognition in regulatory and policy-making quarters.

The study contributes to the literature on agency in institutional theory (e.g. the emerging literature on institutional work) by emphasizing how legal and regulatory frameworks are in a constant process of being modified and negotiated in the face of novel technoscientific practices and social demands. More specifically, this process include many scientific, technological, economic, political and social relations and resources, making the legal environment of organizations what is the outcome from joint negotiations and agreements across organizational and professional boundaries.

Examines Spain’s problems in implementing regulatory reform and offers suggestions for addressing them. Hopes to be instructive to other countries embarking on regulatory reform. Concludes that other countries should concentrate on problems on implementation that they are likely to face and should be prepared for.

One of the most common forms of international tax avoidance is transfer pricing by multinational enterprises. The research will investigate on the factors that contribute to transfer pricing abuses. At present, there is no substantial and extensive transfer pricing rule in Mauritius. This paper aims to analyse the legal approaches to tackle transfer pricing issues that are undertaken by some countries whose taxation regime is similar to Mauritius. The selected countries are South Africa and UK. The objective behind the comparative study is to come up with the appropriate preventive and corrective measures for Mauritius.

The methodology adopted for this research consists of a critical analysis and comparative legal review of the relevant legislation, case law and literature. A minor quantitative analysis of the transfer pricing problem in Mauritius will be conducted, in terms of which interviews will be conducted with officials from different institutions in Mauritius.

The study will conclude that the absence of explicit formal rules on transfer pricing allows businesses to use the country to manipulate transfer prices to avoid paying taxes. Therefore, an amendment to Mauritius laws and regulatory framework is required to dissuade multinationals to engage in transfer pricing abuses. The study will conclude that the scope and application of the arm’s length principle needs to be formally set out in legislation and also, the use of Advance Pricing Agreements will also be recommended.

The research is among the first studies that compare Mauritius legal provisions on transfer pricing with that of South Africa and UK. The research is unique as it intends to provide fruitful recommendation to stakeholders in Mauritius to enhance the existing legal framework on the subject.

The purpose of this paper is to evaluate critical factors that impact public sector organizations’ (PSOs) performance in PPP contracts with a view to improving their capabilities toward efficient project delivery and attracting more private sector investments.

The research methodology is a quantitative approach which commenced with an in-depth literature review that provided the basis for identification of the variables that were evaluated through a structured questionnaire. Respondents were professionals from stakeholders’ organizations that had been involved in PPP contracts in the Southwestern region of Nigeria selected using respondent driven sampling technique. These include industrial practitioners from governmental-based organizations (ministries, agencies, corporations/parastatals, etc.), private developers/concessionaires, law firms, and banks, among others. Data collected were analyzed using mean, relative significance index) and factor analysis.

The critical performance factors of PSOs in concession contracts clustered under nine components. These were technical, legal, political, finance, market maturity, economic, procurement process, performance guarantee and degree of regulation. PSOs’ capability development measure in countries newly experimenting with concession model is expected to focus on these factors for improved project delivery.

The study provided implications for capabilities improvement, legislation and policy making with respect to PPP transactions in countries newly experimenting with PPP contracts. This is highly significant to improving the capabilities of PSOs and attraction of more private sector partnership in infrastructure delivery through the concession model.

The study provided implication for capabilities improvement, legislation and policing with respect to PPP transactions in countries newly experimenting with PPP contracts. This is highly significant to improving the capabilities of PSOs and attraction of more private sector partnership in infrastructure delivery through concession model.

Previous studies on PPP performance had either focused on the projects or generalized the performance assessment to PSOs and private investors. This study extended the researches on PPP performance by revealing factors specific to the public sector stakeholders.

The main objective of this study is to present a compact overview analysis of intellectual property laws, specifically copyright-related provisions applicable to generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) in the Indian context.

The paper adopts a qualitative research methodology that is grounded in secondary sources of information. The data were gathered from the Scopus database for a systematic literature review.

GenAI technology has given rise to numerous questionable issues within the domain of intellectual property that need resolution in the form of policy solutions. Based on the findings of this paper, it can be deduced that Indian copyright laws are not adequate for addressing the rights pertaining to AI and its creations and outputs. Different countries like the United States, European Union and China have approached the regulation and protection of AI-generated content within the realm of copyright law in different ways. The future of law, as it has been established thus far, seems to be on a path of substantial evolution.

The study has implications for policymakers globally as there is a need to create feasible policy solutions that can efficiently safeguard against risks stemming from large language models (LLMs) and other GenAI models, while also promoting innovation, technical advancement and adoption.

The paper discusses the copyright-related issues in GenAI technology in the context of an emerging economy, India.

This paper aims to explore factors influencing the effectiveness of tax audit in Tanzania. The study organized factors into four categories: organizational-related, tax auditors-related, taxpayers-related and regulatory-related factors.

The study used an explanatory approach, whereby data from 225 auditors in 23 tax regions in Tanzania were collected using a mailed questionnaire. The questionnaire had 25 statements representing factors and 5 statements representing the tax audit effectiveness. The collected data were analysed using both descriptive and inferential statistics. In the case of descriptive statistics, the study used frequency, percentage, mean and standard deviation. For the inferential statistics, the study used exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and multiple regression analysis.

The study findings showed that there were five main critical factors for tax audit effectiveness. The first factor, which is the implementation of tax auditors’ recommendations by management, was found under the organizational category. The second factor, which was adequacy of tax audit unit, was found under the tax auditors’ category, while the third factor was taxpayers’ attitude, found under the taxpayers’ category. The fourth and fifth factors, which were availability and application of regulations and standards for tax audit, and leadership and tax policies for tax audit, respectively, were found under the regulatory category.

Despite the contributions of this study, there are some limitations which need to be acknowledged. First, data were collected from tax auditors only. Second, only 25 statements for factors were used. Third, the study has used only primary data. Last, the study has used perceptual measures of tax audit effectiveness. The authors consider that if other approaches were used, they could have reached different conclusions. Therefore, future studies could be conducted in the areas where limitations have been identified.

From a practical perspective, tax authorities may be relying heavily on tax auditors, as well as regulations and policies, for tax audit effectiveness. The study shows that taxpayers, management, as well as tax audit standards, are critical factors too. However, the study also has practical implications for governments, tax authorities, tax auditors as well taxpayers.

This paper extends prior research in the area of tax audit and is the first paper to use four categories of factors to analyse the influence of tax audit effectiveness, taking into consideration both tax authorities and taxpayers. It also used EFA, which helped to generate variables with multiple prior theories (i.e. theoretical triangulation). Hence, new theories were combined with old theories to produce findings which take into consideration the context of the country.

This study investigates non-government organisations' (NGO) current accounting and reporting practices in a developing economy context (Mauritius) and argues the case for reforms to enhance their transparency and accountability.

A content analysis of a sample of NGO annual returns was carried out followed by interviews with NGO officers and actors on the state of accounting and reporting practices in Mauritius. The authors analyse the data from a public accountability perspective.

The content analysis revealed poor accounting and reporting practices by Mauritian NGOs. Based on interview insights, the authors find that these poor practices arise due a lack of (1) NGO-specific accounting standards, (2) engagement with narrative reporting, (3) properly trained NGO officers and (4) proper monitoring and control. Some of the interviewees expressed their support for introducing online filing systems and accounting requirements that are commensurate with NGO size, improving regulatory oversight, while ensuring that NGO accounts are made available to the public.

While there are many calls for better NGO accountability and transparency in developing economies, little is known about the state of accounting and reporting mechanisms (and regulatory framework thereof) that could provide the basis for relevant reforms towards enhancing accountability. Considering the opacity of NGO information in Mauritius and recent concerns about money laundering practices and the perceived ineffectiveness of regulatory oversight, this first national assessment of accounting and reporting practices sheds light on current challenges and formulates locally appropriate recommendations for the sector.

This paper aims to study waqf practice in Pakistan with regard to its utilisation in funding for higher educational institutions (HEIs) and investigates waqf raising, waqf management and waqf income utilisation.

The paper is based on the views of 11 participants who are actively involved in the waqf, its raising, management and income utilisation, and is divided into three subcategories: personnel of higher educational waqf institution, personnel of waqf regulatory bodies and Shari’ah and legal experts as well as archival records, documents and library sources.

In Pakistan, both public and private awqaf are existing, but the role of private awqaf is greater in higher education funding. However, due to lack of legal supervision private awqaf is considered as a part of the not-for-profit sector and legitimately registered as a society, foundation, trust or a private limited company. Waqf in Pakistan is more focusing on internal financial sources and waqf income. In terms of waqf management, they have firm guidelines for investing in real estate, the Islamic financial sector and various halal businesses. Waqf uses the income for developmental and operational expenditure, and supports academic activities for students and staff. Waqfs are also supporting some other HEIs and research agencies. Thus, it can be revealed that a waqf can cater a sufficient amount for funding higher educational institutions.

In Pakistan, both public and private awqaf are equally serving society in different sectors, but the role of private awqaf is much greater in funding higher education. Nevertheless, the government treats private awqaf as a part of not-for-profit sector in the absence of a specific legal framework and registers such organisations as society, foundation, trust or private limited company. The waqf in Pakistan mostly relies on internal financial resources and income from waqf assets. As the waqf managers have over the time evolved firm guidelines for investment in real estate, Islamic financial sector and various other halal businesses, and utilisation of waqf income on developmental and operational expenditures, academic activities of students and educational staff, other HEIs and research agencies, it can be proved that the waqf can potentially generate sufficient amount for funding HEIs.

The study presents the waqf as a social finance institution and the best alternative fiscal instrument for funding works of public good, including higher education, with the help of three selected waqf cases. Hence, the paper’s findings offer some generalisations, both for the ummah at large and Pakistan.

The paper makes several policy recommendations for policymakers, legislators and academicians, especially the government. As an Islamic social finance institution, the waqf can help finance higher education anywhere around the world in view of the fact that most countries grapple with huge fiscal deficits and are hence financially constrained to meet growing needs of HEIs.

The study confirms that the waqf can be an alternative source for funding higher education institutions whether it is managed by the government or is privately controlled.

Studies on the maturity status of Sub-Saharan African property markets are scanty. The absence of such studies appear to have made African property markets – such as the Nigerian market – unattractive to foreign investors who require market information to assess the viability of proposed investments. The purpose of this paper is to explore the maturity status of selected city property markets in Southwestern Nigeria (i.e. markets in the capital cities of Lagos, Ibadan and Osogbo), with a view to providing information for enhanced property investment in Africa.

The study adopted and expanded on property market maturity paradigms suggested by Keogh and D’Arcy (1994), Akinbogun et al. (2014) and Jones Lang LaSalle (2014) to measure the maturity status of the property markets in the Nigerian cities. The study investigated the maturity of three markets in Nigeria by scoring the stated views of a range of stakeholders (estate surveyors and valuers, public land administrators and financiers represented by commercial banks) across a range of ten indicators. The responses were classified by means of a five-point classification scale which expanded on the initial four-point scale developed by Dugeri (2011).

The three property markets were found to exhibit varying maturity characteristics (with weighted mean scores of 3.07, 2.71 and 2.51, respectively), representing emerging and immature stages of evolution on the maturity path. These results suggest that there is a correlation between the tier of the market and the level of property market maturity.

The study concluded that first- and second-tier city property markets have emerged sufficiently to the point where they may safely attract foreign direct and indirect investment from courageous foreign investors. However, the state governments and real estate professional regulatory bodies in the second and third markets need to undertake substantial remodeling of market structures to make them attractive to international investors.

The value of the paper is in providing much needed information for enhanced property investment in Africa.