Beyond Regulation: Institutional Effectiveness, Governance Maturity, and Sustainability Outcomes in the Pharmaceutical Sector
Year: 2026
Type: article
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: This study examines sustainability implementation in the pharmaceutical sector through an institutional effectiveness perspective, emphasizing the role of enforcement consistency, governance maturity, financial constraints, and stakeholder engagement. The mixed-method approach was used with primary data of 100 pharmaceutical professionals, which included the combination of quantitative analysis and qualitative insights. The results show that consistency in enforcement greatly reinforces the correlation between regulatory stringency and sustainability outcomes, and transparency positively impacts sustainability both directly and indirectly by involving stakeholders. Policy incentives have a positive relationship with the sustainability outcomes, whereas financial constraints are structural constraints to adoption. Governance maturity is also identified to be a good predictor of sustainability performance with the importance of institutionalized compliance systems and reporting procedures. A second major implication of the research is that regulation can be more effective through technology-based monitoring (e.g., digital compliance systems and data-driven sustainability reporting). This research can be valuable to policymakers and other stakeholders in the pharmaceutical industry who would like to enhance sustainable pharmaceutical practices by laying the focus on institutional effectiveness and not on the regulatory design.
Authors: Yogesh Kumar Jain, Devidas Golhar
Institution: Savitribai Phule Pune University
Language: English
Subfield: Public Administration
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
OpenAlex ID: W7166322399