Formalism versus purposivism in Islamic jurisprudence : the case of Islamic finance law

This manuscript critically discusses the current implications of the scriptural injunctions against gharar and maysir. It elaborates how overlooking the features of the contemporary world and adopting a formalistic approach in Islamic jurisprudence have led to absurdity in the implication of the doctrines of gharar and maysir for Muslims’ financial activities. The manuscript also underscores the necessity of adopting the maqāsid approach (purposivism) in Islamic jurisprudence. It propounds that the cogent concern of the injunctions could have been an initiative for Islamic scholars to establish an advanced contract law and to promote transparency in economic activities if a maqāsid approach had been adopted in Islamic jurisprudence.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Finance-growth nexus and dual-banking systems : relative importance of Islamic banks

This paper investigates the relative importance of Islamic banks, alongside their conventional counterparts, in relation to banking and financial development and economic welfare. Using a sample of 22 Muslim countries, with dual-banking systems, during the period 1999–2011, this paper reports some significant positive relationship between the market share of Islamic banks and the development of financial intermediation, financial deepening and economic welfare, particularly in low income or predominantly Muslim countries, and countries with a comparatively higher uncertainty avoidance index. Additionally, the results reveal that a greater market share of Islamic banks is associated with higher efficiency of conventional banks.PostprintPeer reviewe

Finance-Growth Nexus and Dual Banking System: Relative Importance of Islamic Banks

This paper investigates the relationship between the coexistence of Islamic banks alongside their conventional counterparts and the quantitative and qualitative development of commercial banking and economic welfare. We study 22 Muslim countries with a dual banking system during the 1999-2009 period and find a positive relationship between the market share of Islamic banks and the development of financial intermediation and economic growth. The results also show a negative linkage between Islamic banks' presence and income inequality and poverty. Moreover, a greater market share of Islamic banks is associated with lower credit risk and cost inefficiency of conventional banks in certain countries. The extent and modality of the relationships considerably depend on the institutional environment within which a dual banking system operates

Stock price synchronicity and price informativeness : evidence from a regulatory change in the U.S. banking industry

Whether return synchronicity is associated with higher or lower stock price informativeness is still an ongoing debate in the academic literature. This paper contributes to this debate by exploiting an exogenous shock, provided by a regulatory change introduced by the Federal Reserve in 2015, and examining its impact on return synchronicity using a sample of U.S. listed bank holding companies (BHCs) operating during the period of 2014: Q3 – 2016: Q2. Applying a regression discontinuity design, we find that return synchronicity of treated BHCs decreases after the regulatory change. This finding suggests that lower return synchronicity represents lower stock price informativeness.PostprintPeer reviewe

Flood, farms and credit: The role of branch banking in the era of climate change

Using Iran’s unexpected flood in April 2019 as a natural experiment, we show that local branches bridge the time gap between the disaster and governmental aids by immediately increasing their lending for two months following the flood. Analyzing proprietary information on more than 53,000 farmers, we find that farmers with a stronger relationship with their branch - particularly younger and females - are more likely to receive a recovery loan. Our findings underscore that despite recent technological advancements, relationship-based branch banking is still important for agrarian societies during catastrophic events

Non-interest income and bank lending

This paper examines the influence of non-interest activities on bank lending in terms of loan quality and interest spread. We also investigate the possible existence of profit complementarities between non-interest activities and lending. Using quarterly data on 6,921 U.S. commercial banks between 2007:Q3 to 2016:Q3 we find that non-interest activities have no adverse influence on bank credit risk. This is the case for banks of different asset size (including systemically important banks) as well as for distressed banks. There is evidence that banks with assets between $100 million and$1 billion that have a greater share of fiduciary income have lower credit risk. They also have lower interest rates on loans secured by real estate, and higher franchise values, particularly post-crisis. Moreover, banks in the aforementioned size range benefit from synergies in joint production of non-interest income and lending, whereas other banks, in particular smaller banks (below $100 million in assets) suffer from diseconomies of joint production. Larger banks exhibit cross-subsidization between several non-interest activities and lending business.PostprintPeer reviewe

Resilience of environmental and social stocks under stress : lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic

This paper examines whether environmental and social (ES) activities affect the resiliency of firms during the COVID-19 crisis. We study a sample of 330 firms operating in five developed countries: Canada, France, Japan, the UK and the US. Our analysis shows that US firms with a high ES ranking experienced a significantly lower stock price range volatility during the Covid stock market rundown of February-March 2020. Such findings also hold for Japanese firms but only later on after the introduction of government support. In terms of returns, compared to their peers with a low ES ranking, Japanese and UK stock prices with a high ES ranking suffered more during and after the market rundown. For other countries, we do not find significant differences in stock price behavior based on ES ratings. Our findings suggest that engaging with ES activities is not associated with a better or worse performance during crisis times, which has important implications for investors and managers.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Heterogeneous market structure and systemic risk : evidence from dual banking systems

The authors acknowledge the financial support received from the PhD program in Economics and management of technology (DREAMT), at the University of Pavia.This paper investigates how banking system stability is affected when we combine Islamic and conventional finance under the same roof. We compare systemic resilience of three types of banks in six GCC member countries with dual banking systems: fully-fledged Islamic banks (IB), purely conventional banks (CB) and conventional banks with Islamic windows (CBw). We employ market-based systemic risk measures such as MES, SRISK and CoVaR to identify which sector is more vulnerable to a systemic event. We also compute weighted average GES to determine which sector is most synchronised with the market. Moreover, we use graphical network models to determine the most interconnected banking sector that can more easily spread a systemic shock to the whole system. Using a sample of observations on 79 publicly traded banks operating over the 2005–2014 period, we find that CBw is the least resilient sector to a systemic event, it has the highest synchronicity with the market, and it is the most interconnected banking sector during crisis times.PostprintPeer reviewe

Lending, the poor, and Islamic scripture:Islamic finance versus welfare Islam

This paper contributes to Islamic studies literature by exploring why many Islamic scholars believe that Islam bans conventional lending and mandates Islamic finance, and how the scriptural injunction against ribā is redefined when we consider the features of modern economic systems. The article advocates the view that ribā and charity are inextricably linked and must therefore be considered together. The latter emphasizes helping the poor and the former prevents exploiting them. Islamic finance, however, has been incepted by juxtaposing trade with lending. The study also discusses the fallacies raised by many Islamic scholars against conventional lending. This manuscript demonstrates the necessity of modernizing our religious understanding to accelerate poverty reduction in the Muslim world

Lending, the poor, and Islamic scripture : Islamic finance versus welfare Islam

This paper contributes to Islamic studies literature by exploring why many Islamic scholars believe that Islam bans conventional lending and mandates Islamic finance, and how the scriptural injunction against ribā is redefined when we consider the features of modern economic systems. The article advocates the view that ribā and charity are inextricably linked and must therefore be considered together. The latter emphasizes helping the poor and the former prevents exploiting them. Islamic finance, however, has been incepted by juxtaposing trade with lending. The study also discusses the fallacies raised by many Islamic scholars against conventional lending. This manuscript demonstrates the necessity of modernizing our religious understanding to accelerate poverty reduction in the Muslim world.PostprintPeer reviewe