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Multinational corporations (MNCs) that want to compete in markets worldwide should not underestimate the influences of religion on consumer demand. Almost one quarter of the world’s population is Muslim so it is important for MNCs to get into the Muslim mind set when operating in countries where Islam has a large influence. The purpose of this paper is to assess the extent to which consumer-based brand equity in a religious market results from the psychological and behavioural characteristics of consumers rather than from product characteristics.

A quantitative survey method was adopted, using a total sample of 551 Muslim consumers in Malaysia and Pakistan. A holistic model conceptualising three potential psychological and behavioural predictors of consumer-based halal brand equity (CBHBE) was created and then tested using structural equation modelling.

The strength of an individual’s religious identity was found to be a strong predictor of consumer halal choice behaviour and perceived self-expressive religious benefits. Consumers’ halal choice behaviour and perceived self-expressive benefits directly predict CBHBE. Moreover, consumer halal choice behaviour partially mediates the relationship between self-expressive benefits and CBHBE.

The authors conclude that firms targeting Muslim consumers can maximise CBHBE by focussing their marketing strategies on the three psychological and behavioural constructs identified in the model. For example, by using halal certification logos and providing convincing information about the halalness of their brand, businesses can facilitate Muslim consumers’ search processes in relation to their choice behaviour.

The study contributes to the existing international branding literature in two main ways. First, it introduces and defines the concept of CBHBE. Second, it identifies and empirically validates the important psychological and behavioural predictors of CBHBE.

Aim of the present monograph is the economic analysis of the role of MNEs regarding globalisation and digital economy and in parallel there is a reference and examination of some legal aspects concerning MNEs, cyberspace and e‐commerce as the means of expression of the digital economy. The whole effort of the author is focused on the examination of various aspects of MNEs and their impact upon globalisation and vice versa and how and if we are moving towards a global digital economy.

This paper examines ambush marketing activities and their effects upon UK football-oriented consumers. It questions previous definitions of ambush marketing and proposes one more relevant for today. The research focuses upon the identification of 'event-connected brand recognition' achieved by sponsor versus ambush brands and the role of 'event involvement' as a driver of this. The research employs a pre- and post-event design that aims to track consumer recognition of predesignated brands. Results give initial indications that consumers can discern differences between the two forms of activity and that high event involvement increases recognition. This paper contributes towards the debate about a change in the definition of ambush marketing against the backdrop of increasing media saturation surrounding major sporting events, and suggests that a more relevant descriptor would be 'parallel event marketing'.

Government corruption and secrecy are not new phenomena in Africa; however, international scrutiny has grown as nations end decades of conflict and seek to develop, donor nations consider providing more aid, and investors and transnational corporations look to the area for oil and other resources. Given that corrupt government activities account for millions of dollars diverted from public coffers each year in developing nations and lead to unfair benefit distribution to citizens, the chapter examines the global network of actors attempting to advance the international norm of government accountability to constrain corruption through advocating for the adoption of access-to-information legislation. The chapter also explores the relationship between perception of corruption in Africa and four political institutions of vertical accountability. The findings indicate that perception of corruption is inversely correlated with news media rights, civil liberties, and political rights. However, adopting access-to-information legislation or planning to adopt the law was not correlated with the perception of corruption.

In 1998, UNECE Member States completed negotiation of the Aarhus Convention to enhance public participation in environmental decision-making. Three years later, only two western democracies have ratified the agreement. This paper suggests why parliamentary democracies in Western Europe have been slow to ratify the Convention. We argue that their political structure discourages strong public participation in bureaucratic policy making, in contrast to separation of powers regimes, such as the United States. To illustrate our point, we discuss examples from the U.S., selected European countries, and the European Community, which has separation-of-powers features similar to the U.S.

The presence of political corruption possibly predates the historical record. For years, it was viewed as an artifact of political development, a common malignancy that nations would naturally reject as a function of their respective national maturations; this was one of the underlying theses of the American progressive movement. However, this cleansing has been neither as straightforward nor as natural as its proponents would argue. An anti-corruption coalition established in the 1990 under the umbrella of Transparency International (TI) has brought a new light on the world of political corruption. TI annually publishes a Corruption Perception Index that in 2001 ranked over 90 nations in terms of their perceived political corruptions. Peter Eigen, the TI Chairman, observed that “There is no end in sight to the misuse of power by those in public office – and corruption levels are perceived to be as high as ever in both the developed and developing nations” (Transparency International Press Release, 2001).¹

Individuals and organizations will exhaust all available gains from trade and the resulting allocation of resources will be efficient when allocation will reflect accurately society's opportunities and preferences – including preferences related to individuals' ethical standards. Which behaviours are ethical and which are unethical? International society due to globalization has to develop and establish common ethical principles of behaviour in social life taking into account religion and world civilization. The basic values of humans and life as creation have to be identical all over the world, which means that human behaviour should be similar all over the world. So, similar actions should be ethical or unethical similarly all over the world and principles established by different kinds of societies should not alter the basis of values of life and humanity.

Managerial nonpecuniary preferences have been emphasised by the behavioural theories of nonprofit organisation but only weakly related to this organisation's market failure theories. The present paper aims to fill this gap by examining the ways in which the market failure‐addressing capacity of nonprofit firms requires recourse to managerial nonpecuniary preferences.

The paper proceeds by examining the ways in which the market failure theories of nonprofit organisation conceptualise this organisation's market failure‐addressing mechanism.

It is shown that the market failure theories of nonprofit organisation can be logically complete only if they include an explanation of managerial motivation consisting in the gratification of nonpecuniary preferences.

Nonprofit firms are thereby shown to address market failures in a way different from that of for‐profit firms. Specifically, whereas for‐profit firms address market failures based on their advantages over market organisation in processing information and aligning incentives, nonprofit firms make the production of goods and services that are undersupplied due to market failures the object of nonprofit managers' nonpecuniary preferences.

The economic theory of nonprofit organisation has been traditionally marked by a dichotomy of the market failure theories and behavioural theories, only the latter of which recognised the role of managerial nonpecuniary preferences. By demonstrating that these preferences are crucial to the former theories as well, this paper integrates these two theorising strands and thus deepens the theoretical understanding of the nonprofit sector.