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Does Islamic finance affect economic growth? The empirical literature in this area seems to be in early stages and the results are often mixed and inconclusive. This paper aims to examine the causality between financial development in general, Islamic finance in particular and real economic growth in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Using time series data from 1990 to 2012, a bivariate vector autoregressive model was used to document the financial development-Islamic finance-growth causal nexus and to forecast growth under various scenarios. A composite indicator, as a proxy for financial development, was determined using a non-parametric approach: data envelopment analysis.

The direction of causality runs from financial development to economic growth and the reverse causality does not drive this relationship; however, the real gross domestic product (GDP) causes Islamic financial development with no reverse effect. Furthermore, the forecasting results indicate that the past relation has been a proxy for the future where financial development leads to better progress in real economic activity. This will likely continue to stimulate the development of Islamic finance.

Because the financial markets in the UAE were established in 2000, this study ignored Islamic bonds and equity product. The value of the Sukuk listed on Dubai’s exchanges is around US$36.75bn (Thomson Reuters, 2015), reinforcing Dubai’s position as an international center for Sukuk activity. Among the most important tools of the Islamic financial sector, Sukuk deserves a closer empirical study. This can set the agenda for future work.

The financial sector appears to be one of the main drivers of real economic activity. However, more effort in the area of Islamic finance is needed to promote Shari’ah-compliant economic activities and thus better contribute toward making Dubai-UAE the capital of the Islamic economy.

A new indicator was used to evaluate the financial strength of the UAE and analyze its effect on economic development. In addition, as one of UAE’ emirates, Dubai declared its vision in 2013 to become the “capital of the Islamic economy”, this study analyzed the finance, Islamic finance and growth relations over the period 2013-2022.

The purpose of this case study is to explore whether Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank (ADIB) complies with the Global Reporting Initiative Standards in terms of corporate social responsibility (CSR) disclosure practices for the period 2014–2019.

By analysing both annual and sustainability reports of the bank using content analysis for each Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) category, 100 universal standards, 200 economic standards, 300 environmental standards, 400 social standards. The authors then compute and discuss the degree of compliance of ADIB disclosures by using annual charts and graphs.

Results show that, although ADIB issues sustainability reports, numerous GRI standards do not appear in the bank’s reports such as general disclosures GRI 102, economic disclosures items such as anti-competitive behaviour GRI 206 and environmental disclosures such as gas emissions GRI 305 due to the nature of bank’s activities. However, the bank focuses mainly on social standards GRI 400 including community services, training and development. Hence, ADIB partially complies with the GRI standards (2016) especially social disclosures.

The study encompasses some limitations: first, due to the discretionary nature of CSR reporting, many items were ignored or missed for the full period. Second, the disclosure of a sustainability report by the company was only available for the year 2017, which, in turn, makes it difficult for comparison.

The findings of this study have important implications for academics and researchers, and practitioners as they pave the way for further investigation regarding CSR compliance of Islamic financial institutions. The results also have important implications for Accounting and Auditing Organization for Islamic Financial Institutions in developing a CSR reporting standard if Islamic banks are to enhance their image globally and to maintain competitive advantages.

This paper contributes to the growing debate on CSR disclosures in the Islamic banking industry by comparing ADIB practices with regard to the GRI standards.

The Islamic Capital Market (ICM) has witnessed tremendous growth over the years. One of the most interesting growth curves in the ICM instruments is that Islamic Real Estate Investment Trusts (I-REITs). The purpose in this paper is to highlight the concept of I-REIT and to presents a comparative analysis for Emirates I-REIT and Al-Salam I-REIT of UAE and Malaysia to find out the implications of the major differences between the two countries I-REITs.

This paper uses the data in the two I-REITs' financial reports from the years 2015 to 2019. A descriptive (Observational design) data analysis approach is used in comparing both I-REITs by focusing on five different variables that include: portfolio, governance, financial performance, Shariah compliance and risk management.

The findings offer evidence of key differences between the two countries regarding the I-REITs. The differences found in the implication for all variables that the paper presented, especially the size of the portfolio for each I-REIT along with the Shariah compliance and risk management, Al Salam “Malaysia” used more standard approach than UAE in which the SSB is responsible for setting the guidelines for Emirates REIT. Also, the risk management technique used by the two REITs differs from one another.

This research paper provides an insight for the capital market sectors as an initiative to improve and develop the ICM to play its important role in the economy.

This research paper is an initiative to compare and evaluate the implications of major differences between the I-REITs of the two countries only in the light of recent development in the ICM.

The purpose of this study is to extend previous literature and examine risk management efficiency among Takaful (TI) and conventional insurance (CI) firms in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). This study also aims to determine whether Takaful firms are more efficient in managing risks, compared to CI firms.

This study examines risk management efficiency among Takaful and CI firms in the KSA and the UAE for a sample of 20 insurance firms comprising 10 TI firms and 10 CI firms for the period 2018–2020. The authors use Data Envelopment Analysis to estimate efficiency scores among insurance companies to compare risk management efficiency between CI and TI companies and apply two-way analysis of variance to statistically analyze the data.

The results of this study show that TI firms have a higher efficiency score than CI firms, but not significantly and that insurance firms in KSA have higher efficiency scores than insurance firms in UAE. The results also reveal that TI firms did not significantly outperform CI firms in managing risks; however, there is a significant difference in efficiency scores among insurance firms in KSA and UAE.

The authors also contribute to the literature by providing important insights into how the operational business environment of the country can influence the risk management efficiency of CI and TI companies.

This study promotes understanding the insurance industry, its efficiency and risk management, thus offering key implications for decision-makers, regulators and managers associated with the insurance industry in UAE, KSA and other emerging insurance markets. Regulators could provide enabling policies that foster and promote the business environment, as there is a need to improve risk management efficiency in the insurance industry. Also, the results of this study show that the operating status of the UAE insurance industry in terms of efficiency and risk management is lower than that of KSA. Hence, it would be useful for UAE managers and regulators in taking steps to improve the overall insurance industry market.

The results of this study make significant contributions by providing new insights to the existing literature on the risk management efficiency in the insurance industry, as it adopts a different methodological approach that examines risk management efficiency among TI and CI companies.