https://pajooheshnameh.itsr.ir/ Iranian Journal of Trade Studies en daily 1 Sat, 21 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +0330 Sat, 21 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +0330 https://pajooheshnameh.itsr.ir/article_735772.html Given the growing role of regional trade arrangements in organizing trade flows and deepening economic integration, one of the persistent challenges of Iran’s trade policy lies in the structural and protracted delays in the ratification and implementation of trade agreements. Focusing on this issue, the present study seeks to explain the institutional and bureaucratic mechanisms that continuously reproduce these delays throughout the processes of policymaking and commitment enforcement. Employing a qualitative approach based on document analysis and semi structured interviews, the data were analyzed through the theoretical lens of state capacity. The findings reveal that stagnation in advancing trade agreements results from the interplay of several structural logics. A self-reliance-oriented logic embedded in industrial and trade policy frames imports as a normative threat to national autonomy and steers decision making toward caution, restriction, and postponement. This logic is further reinforced by structural external pressures induced by sanctions, which divert trade policymaking from a programmatic path toward short term and reactive responses. Simultaneously, the erosion of technical and human capacity within trade institutions together with institutional fragmentation and the absence of a central coordinating authority exposes the negotiation-ratification-implementation cycle to sectoral frictions, bureaucratic inertia, and administrative resistance. Coupled with policy instability and frequent regulatory shifts, these conditions complicate compliance with international commitments and erode the confidence of foreign partners. The analysis demonstrates that the roots of these delays lie in deficiencies across the core pillars of state capacity, namely institutional integration, coordination, bureaucratic efficiency, and accountability. Accordingly, reforming Iran’s trade policy requires rebuilding bureaucratic capacity, strengthening specialized institutions, establishing a central coordinating authority, and stabilizing trade regulations. https://pajooheshnameh.itsr.ir/article_735771.html Maritime transport, as the principal conduit of international trade, requires a coherent legal framework for the exchange of information between the parties to a contract of carriage. Within this framework, maritime transport notices play a pivotal role in structuring legal relationships, preventing disputes, and delineating the scope of obligations and liabilities of the shipper, carrier, and consignee. Nonetheless, the fragmentation of rules governing such notices in Iranian law, coupled with divergent approaches adopted by international instruments, has generated legal uncertainty regarding their effects and the sanctions arising from their absence, delay, or inaccuracy. The need for this study stems from the lack of a comprehensive analysis of maritime notices as an independent legal institution with multifaceted legal consequences, as well as from the necessity of aligning domestic law with contemporary developments in maritime transport, particularly under the Rotterdam Convention. Employing a descriptive analytical methodology and a comparative legal approach, this article examines the concept, types, mandatory contents, and legal effects of maritime transport notices across the pre‑carriage, carriage, and post‑carriage phases. It compares Iranian law with the Hague Rules of 1924, the Hamburg Rules of 1978, and the Rotterdam Convention of 2008. The central research question is how maritime transport declarations function as legally binding instruments in organizing contractual relations under contracts for the carriage of goods by sea, and what legal consequences arise from non-compliance with declaration-related obligations under Iranian law and international instruments. The findings demonstrate that such declarations perform functions extending beyond mere information-sharing. They play a decisive role in creating reciprocal obligations, shifting the burden of proof, triggering strict liability—particularly with respect to dangerous goods—and activating enforcement mechanisms such as forfeiture of freight, contractual penalties, and rights of control or disposal over cargo. The study further concludes that the Rotterdam Convention offers a more coherent, transparent, and trade‑responsive framework than Iranian law and earlier conventions, thereby underscoring the urgency of legislative reform to accommodate modern and electronic transport practices. https://pajooheshnameh.itsr.ir/article_735773.html The present study was conducted with the aim of presenting and validating a marketing audit model in the country’s banking system. In terms of purpose, this research is applied-developmental, and in terms of data collection method, it is a descriptive study employing a cross-sectional survey approach. To achieve the research objective, an exploratory mixed-methods design was adopted. The participant population consisted of theoretical experts (marketing professors) and experimental experts (managers of the country's banking system). Using theoretical sampling, 14 experts participated in the qualitative phase after reaching theoretical saturation. In the quantitative phase, the perspectives of bank managers and experts were utilized, and the sample size was estimated at 180 individuals using power analysis. Quantitative sampling was conducted using cluster-random sampling. For data analysis, the grounded theory method with MAXQDA software was used in the qualitative phase, and partial least squares method with SmartPLS software was used in the quantitative phase. The results of qualitative and quantitative analysis indicated that acceptance of technological changes, the need for digital banking, and transformation in banks' business models, as causal conditions, facilitate the formation of the core phenomenon, namely marketing audit. Furthermore, central bank policies and the socio-cultural status of society, as contextual conditions, and resistance to organizational changes, as an intervening condition, influence how marketing audit strategies are formulated and implemented. Finally, the identified strategies lead to increased customer satisfaction, improved key customer interactions, increased profitability, and enhanced bank performance. https://pajooheshnameh.itsr.ir/article_736013.html Uneven industrial distribution and spatial concentration remain major challenges for regional development and territorial planning in developing economies. Identifying locational advantages and regional specialization patterns is therefore essential for designing effective place-based industrial policies. This study investigates industrial specialization and spatial concentration patterns in the Khorasan planning region of Iran, comprising Razavi Khorasan, North Khorasan, and South Khorasan provinces. Methodologically, the research adopts a descriptive-analytical approach and applies three regional analysis indicators, including the Location Quotient (LQ), the Gini coefficient of geographical concentration, and the Gini coefficient of regional specialization. The analysis is conducted at the four-digit ISIC industrial activity level using employment and value-added data derived from the Census of Industrial Establishments with 10 employees and more, published by the Statistical Center of Iran for the period 2002-2019. The findings indicate that the industrial structure of the region follows an uneven concentration pattern in which only a limited number of industrial activities possess stable locational advantages. The results further reveal that geographical proximity among provinces has not necessarily led to structural convergence. Razavi Khorasan demonstrates a relatively diversified and specialized industrial structure, whereas North and South Khorasan remain largely dependent on resource-based and primary-stage industrial activities with limited industrial diversification. Food industries and non-metallic mineral products constitute the principal common cores of industrial specialization across the region. The study highlights the importance of place-based industrial policy, regional value-chain upgrading, and selective specialization strategies for achieving more balanced and sustainable regional industrial development. https://pajooheshnameh.itsr.ir/article_735769.html With the expansion of data-driven technologies, personal data is increasingly collected, stored, and analyzed within big data systems and databases. These structures, designed to enable large-scale and intelligent information processing, provide substantial benefits for businesses but simultaneously generate fundamental challenges regarding data subject rights. In big data environments, data is gathered in massive, diverse, and interconnected forms, making the exercise of individual rights such as access, rectification, erasure, or portability highly difficult due to technical and structural barriers; isolating a single person’s data within such datasets often proves complex or even impossible. In company-owned databases, personal data is frequently treated as part of the informational assets, creating tensions between corporate intellectual property rights over the database and individuals’ privacy rights. The central question addressed in this article is what legal and technical challenges emerge at the intersection of big data and databases in safeguarding data subject rights, and how legal systems have responded. Using a descriptive-analytical method and based on library research, the study finds that big data remains subject to a significant regulatory gap, as most legal frameworks have yet to extend data protection obligations specifically to this context. Accordingly, enforcing data subject rights requires new regulations tailored to the distinctive features of big data. Regarding databases, intellectual property protection applies only to the design, structure, and organization of the database, while raw personal data remains subject to privacy and data protection regulations. https://pajooheshnameh.itsr.ir/article_735770.html Following the extensive use of paper checks under the Iranian Commercial Law (1932) and the Law on Issuance of Checks (1976), Iran introduced semi-electronic Sayadi checks through amendments adopted in 2018 and 2021. In continuation of this digitalization process, the Central Bank of Iran issued the Executive Directive on Electronic Checks in 2023 to establish fully electronic checks and eliminate paper-based procedures. Despite the directive’s importance, it has not yet received comprehensive legal and academic analysis, even though some banks, including Bank Saderat Iran, have already launched electronic checkbook systems such as Cheknov. This article adopts a qualitative, descriptive-analytical approach to examine whether electronic checks simplify legal relations arising from issuance and circulation or create additional legal complexities. It further analyzes the legal protections and guarantees governing electronic checks, particularly regarding electronic signatures, digital registration, electronic transfer methods, safeguards, and certificates of non-payment. The study also evaluates whether the directive can adequately address all legal dimensions of this modern commercial instrument. The article argues that, although the directive introduces important innovations, it also contains significant shortcomings that may create challenges for judicial practice and the rights of parties involved in electronic checks. The research therefore critically examines the directive and proposes practical legal solutions. The study concludes that electronic checks improve security, transparency, speed, and traceability in commercial transactions through centralized banking systems such as Sayad. However, challenges remain, including dependence on digital infrastructure, weaknesses in digital identity verification, limited digital literacy among users, and evidentiary difficulties in litigation.