ABSTRACT
Global trade and marketing are subject to laws, rules, and regulations formulated by diverse legal systems. There are five different legal systems in the world. No one system dominates the world’s legal landscape, but common, civil, and Islamic law are dominant. Civil law systems are based mainly on Roman law heritage and are found in Europe, Asia, and Central and South America. Common law, adopted in North America, is based on English custom, where court adjudications are the primary source of law, although governments pass statutes and legislation that are only seen as incursions into the common law and thus interpreted narrowly. Most observers of political risk agree that it is determined by the exercise of political power, either by government or groups such as unions and activists. Global marketers must be aware of the legal problems that can arise when doing business abroad. These problems center specifically on marketing issues such as the “4Ps”: product, place, price, and promotion.
