Performance of islamic banks across the world: an empirical analysis over the period 2001-2008

Our study aims at analyzing Islamic bank efficiency over the period 2001-2008. We found that they were efficient at 92%. The level of efficiency could however vary according to the region where they operate. Asia displays the highest score with 96%. Indeed, country like Malaysia made reforms in order to allow these banks to better cope with the existing financial system, display the highest scores. On the contrary countries with Islamic banking system do not necessarily display efficiency scores superior to the average. The subprime crisis seems to have impacted those banks indirectly. And market power and profitability have a positive impact on Islamic banks efficiency, while it is the contrary for their size. The latter implies that they do not benefit from scale economy, may be because of the specificity of Islamic financial products.Islamic Finance, Islamic Banks, performance, efficiency, stochastic frontier analysis

A PROPOSAL ON PUBLIC ACCOUNTING REFORM IN TURKEY AND BALKAN COUNTRIES

This study which is based on the reform in the field of government accounting,shows that taking into consideration that these studies had began in our country inthe late 90s, and that Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Macedonia and Serbia are still applyingcash-based government accounting at both local and central level, it is not difficultto adjudicate that we are well underway in accordance with the countries of theBalkan. In this study, cash-based accounting system is compared with accrualbasedaccounting system; the benefits of accrual based accounting and innovationsafter the transition to that system are tried to be presented to the Balkan countrieswhich implement cash-based accounting; and related examples to the mixture ofcash-based and accrual-based accounting system which are applied in Turkey andwhich are proposed to Balkan countries are provided

Fighting Spam. How Stringent is the Canadian Legal Arsenal. An Analysis in the Light of the U.S. CAN-SPAM Act

Following several countries, Canada recently passed Canada’s Anti-Spam Legislation (CASL), in an attempt to tackle spam. The law aims to ‘‘protect Canadians while ensuring that businesses can continue to compete in the global marketplace”. For this purpose, CASL prohibits not only the sending of commercial electronic messages without consent, but also any alteration of transmission data in the course of a commercial activity. Moreover, the Act disallows the installation of a computer program on another person’s computer system and the sending of commercial electronic messages following the installation. These three activities are prohibited unless the author or initiator has obtained the recipient’s prior consent, either express or implied. This opt-in approach contrasts with the U.S. CAN- SPAM Acts opt-out regime, in force since 2004, which is known to offer to senders the chance to initiate contact and to recipients the option to unsubscribe or reject any subsequent commercial electronic message. Our paper intends to demonstrate that, notwithstanding the apparent difference in their respective approach, CASL and U.S. CAN-SPAM Act remain fundamentally similar in practical effect. This resemblance is good news, considering the profile and proximity of Canadian and American e-commerce economies. Thus, in spite of its detail and complexity, CASL may not be the most stringent anti-spam act as claimed, certainly not with the challenges related to its implementation and enforcement

Citizen-Led Accountability: Demystifying the concept of social accountability

Citizen's voices are increasingly being shut down. Their rights are equally being violated and worst so, by representatives of institutions created by the state to protect the rights of citizens. However, the presence of social media and its increased use by citizens as a tool to demand social justice is helping citizens gain grounds in making their voices heard and demand accountability

Fighting spam : how tough is the Canadian legal arsenal ? An analysis in the light of the U.S. CAN-SPAM Act

Following several countries, Canada recently passed Canada’s Anti-Spam Legislation (CASL), in an attempt to tackle spam. The law aims to ‘‘protect Canadians while ensuring that businesses can continue to compete in the global marketplace”. For this purpose, CASL prohibits not only the sending of commercial electronic messages without consent, but also any alteration of transmission data in the course of a commercial activity. Moreover, the Act disallows the installation of a computer program on another person’s computer system and the sending of commercial electronic messages following the installation. These three activities are prohibited unless the author or initiator has obtained the recipient’s prior consent, either express or implied. This opt-in approach contrasts with the U.S. CAN- SPAM Acts opt-out regime, in force since 2004, which is known to offer to senders the chance to initiate contact and to recipients the option to unsubscribe or reject any subsequent commercial electronic message. Our paper intends to demonstrate that, notwithstanding the apparent difference in their respective approach, CASL and U.S. CAN-SPAM Act remain fundamentally similar in practical effect. This resemblance is good news, considering the profile and proximity of Canadian and American e-commerce economies. Thus, in spite of its detail and complexity, CASL may not be the most stringent anti-spam act as claimed, certainly not with the challenges related to its implementation and enforcement

Mentoring the Next Generation of Leaders in West Africa

The African youth has always been considered as a promising talent. Many, however, struggle to meet these heightened expectations set on them. The youth, full of innovative ideas and high aspirations, have minimal opportunities to unleash those talents and aspirations. Inasmuch as more opportunities are being created in West Africa, the necessary skillsets and support systems required to help empower the youth to grasp these opportunities continue to be limited. Due to that, many of these talents do not achieve their goals in life, many of whom are eventually persuaded to take actions that are far below their worth and ambitions. This piece explores how promoting quality mentoring programmes could help shape the lives of the youths to be more productive and be of significant added value to their communities and countries. Hence, they will become a catalyst for accelerated and sustainable development of West African countries

The Effects of the Fiscal Policy on Economic Activity in Saudi Arabia: An Empirical Analysis

The fiscal policy has been studied extensively, but only as a one shot deal and with emphasis on developed economies. The study of fiscal policy as a trajectory and of its consequences, also, as trajectory has been pioneered by Blanchard and Perotti (2002). This study applies the Blanchard-Perotti concept to Saudi Arabian economy. We used structural vector autoregression (SVAR) technique. The results show that government spending shocks have positive effects on GDP and private consumption, but they have negative effects on private investment (i.e., crowding out), exports and imports, while net tax revenue has a negative effect on GDP. When we extended the model by including inflation and interest rates, we obtained similar results. The government spending shocks are found to have positive effects on inflation and interest rates. As a check on our methodology, similar analyses are performed on Indonesia, Malaysia, and Norway and we found that they validate our findings

Measuring the Impacts of Fasb Statement No. 8 and the Fluctuations in Foreign Currency Values on Multinational Corporation Security Prices.

The purpose of this study is twofold. The first is to measure the impact of FASB 8 on multinational corporation (MNC) security prices. The second is to investigate the association between currency fluctuations and MNC security prices. Two types of empirical studies have been conducted to measure FASB 8\u27s impact. The first were questionnaire studies measuring corporate managements\u27 reactions toward the Statement. Their findings showed that corporate managers took certain costly decisions to alter the Statement\u27s effects on reported earnings. The second type of study was conducted to measure the Statement\u27s effect on security prices. Due to methodological problems, these market studies did not prove the Statement\u27s negative impact. This study employed an improved methodology which controlled for certain characteristics that are unique to MNCs. Three factors were tested, (1) the location of MNCs foreign investments, (2) the magnitude of foreign investments, and (3) interaction of the location and magnitude factors. Based on these factors, six groups were formed: stable currency (SC), unstable currency (UC), high magnitude (HM), low magnitude (LM), (HM/UC), and (LM/SC). The methodology employed nonaffected MNCs as control groups. Residual analysis was conducted to measure the market\u27s immediate reaction to the Statement. The market\u27s response to corporate management reactions\u27 to FASB 8 was tested by measuring the shifts in MNC systematic risks. The findings show that FASB 8 had significant negative impact on MNC security prices. Significant upward shifts in affected firms\u27 systematic risks were found. Only location and interaction factors were found to provide information content to the market. The association between foreign currency fluctuations and MNC security prices was tested. The results show that the association varies from one firm to another. On the average, 2 percent of the variations in MNC security prices can be explained by the variations in exchange rates. The study has methodological, practical, and regulatory implications. Future research can benefit from the improved methodology used in this study. The findings may also assist market participants and corporate executives in various practical and investment decisions. The Financial Accounting Standards Board may benefit from these findings in setting future rules regarding MNCs