Areas of Research

The following list shows the main areas of research interest of the Centre at the moment. Other areas of interest may be added in the future, as the research agenda of the centre is further developed.

Law and Development. This research topic will examine the role of law in economic development, the role of legal assistance programs and settings of legal pluralism with influences from traditional customary and religious laws in developing countries. Legal history, sociology and anthropology of law will be drawn upon to provide a strong local knowledge background that will also be useful for other, more specialised areas of researchwithin the Centre.

Comparative and International Law. This research topic will develop new research tools for comparative and international law to extend the analysis into non-Western settings. It is based on the assumption that far from being at a dead end, comparative law and international law offer many new insights once they are freed from their euro centric origins and applied in the context of developing countries. It provides a further framework for the other more specialised areas to be examined.

Intellectual Property Law and Technology Transfer. This research topic will look at one of the most "globalised" areas of law and its impact on developing countries in such crucial areas as technology development, public health and education.

Competition Law and Policy. This area is of fundamental importance in developing and transition countries, where attempts at building up strong internationally competitive corporations often end up via cartels and conglomerates in corruption and nepotism. The topic also combines with the intellectual property research, as intellectual property can develop into yet another form of monopoly that needs to be controlled and limited by competition law and policy.

Environmental Law and Policy. While countries tend to neglect environmental policies during the initial stages of development, it has become increasingly clear during the last few years that environmental issues can no longer be ignored. Developing countries risk loosing their achievements in economic development, if they are not followed by sensible policies to protect and nurture their natural resources and environment. This research topic will examine these issues. It also links up to intellectual property research via such topics as access to genetic resources and traditional knowledge protection.

Regulation of Financial Markets. Financial markets are the biggest markets in the world. These markets engage in the exchange of property rights. Financial assets can be derivative of real or physical assets. Every financial product is defined by the law and financial transactions are transactions in legal products. Therefore all financial transactions and financial products are governed by rules or laws. The regulation of financial markets concerns all market players, government and public because most of us participate in financial markets directly or indirectly. Financial markets can be self regulated or regulated by the government. Self-regulation is imposed through internal audit, industry associations and codes of conduct. Government intervention happens in the form of laws, rules, taxation or even direct market participation. The design and practice of the regulatory framework determines the efficiency and performance of the market and shapes the behaviour of the market participants. Different countries have adopted different approaches to regulation of financial markets based on the cost and benefits of regulation but also on the perception of the government and public towards regulation. Excessive regulation can result in increasing the cost of regulation and loss of competitiveness whereas lack of regulation can result in increasing the systemic risk for the markets and have the potential of destabilising the markets. The current mantra of deregulation is due to increasing globalisation of markets, increase in financial innovation and disintermediation, consumer awareness and increase in costs of regulation. The ultimate form of regulation adopted by each country - centralised or diffused - depends on legal, constitutional, historical, social and political factors that affect each financial system. But the interdependence of various financial systems means that the world at large will need to intervene if there is a problem with any financial system.

Last reviewed: 18 August, 2010