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To provide a sound understanding of Zakah compliance behaviour, this paper aims to shed light on the relationships between Zakah system fairness, Zakah morale, peer influence and law enforcement with Zakah compliance behaviour among entrepreneurs.

The underpinning model used in this paper is the socio-economic theory of regulatory compliance for assessing the probable determinants shaping Zakah payers' compliance behaviour. Based on a survey of active entrepreneurs in a typical Islamic situation like Yemen, a total of 500 self-administered instruments were distributed to the respondents. Partial least squares-structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) was used to estimate the compliance model.

All the variables included in the compliance model are statistically significant, except for law enforcement. Zakah compliance of entrepreneurs is significantly influenced by Zakah system fairness, Zakah morale and peer influence.

Zakah institutions and agencies in Muslim-majority countries may use the results of this work to focus attention on appropriate proactive policies to formulate a fair Zakah system, inculcating moral responsibility among Zakah payers, embarking on sensitisation programmes in society as a whole, and being more proactive in educating Muslims in the importance of paying Zakah to the respective Zakah agencies.

This paper complements the limited literature on Zakah by examining both tangible and intangible motivations affecting Zakah payers' compliance decision.

Despite the vulnerability of rapidly developing and emerging market economies, researchers have paid less attention to the determination of the size of money laundering (ML) in these economies, including the United Arab Emirates (the UAE). Therefore, this paper aims to estimate the magnitude of ML in the UAE between 1975 and 2020 based on the currency demand approach (CDA).

The study uses the Gregory–Hansen cointegration technique alongside the autoregressive distributed lag bounds testing procedure to estimate the CDA model.

The results illustrate that an amount equivalent to about 19.034% of the GDP is laundered in the UAE between 1975 and 2020, on average, with the value lying between 15.129% and 23.121%. In addition, the results demonstrate the importance of the real estate market, gold trade, remittance channels and the size of the underground economy in facilitating the laundering of illicit funds in the country.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, the study is the pioneering attempt at estimating the amount of illicit funds laundered in the UAE. Besides, the adoption of a novel, yet robust, approach based on the modification of the CDA technique also sets the study apart as it ensures a correct, clear, unambiguous and indisputable estimate of the magnitude of ML is obtained. In addition, it is expected that the outcome of the study will expand the frontiers of knowledge among policy makers and relevant agencies and ensure the adoption of the most efficient and effective measures to curb the ML menace in the country.

It is widely argued that money laundering (ML) is not a new phenomenon and the pervasiveness of ML is associated with some severe economic, social and political costs. Due to the lack of studies on the ML’s issue in the UAE, this study aims to examine the determinants of ML in the country between 1975 and 2020.

The autoregressive distributed lag bounds testing results demonstrate the presence of long-run relationship between ML and the selected macroeconomics variables. The analysis is validated by the dynamic ordinary least squares, the fully modified ordinary least squares and the canonical co-integration regression estimators.

The estimation result reveals that while the real estate market, outflow of money, arms procurement and size of the underground economy influences the size of ML positively, gold trade, the level of financial development and the size of economic activities are negatively associated with ML, both in the short- and long-run.

Up to date from a country-level analysis, no study has been devoted to the ML in UAE, except for Aljassmi et al. (2023). To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first to investigate the determinants of laundered money in the UAE economy. Based on these outcomes, strategies and measures which will deter the laundering of illicit funds through the real estate and gold market, remittance system, financial system and arms procurement contracts in the UAE are recommended.

Up to now a country-specific study on Qatar with respect to underground economy, illegal money and tax evasion has not been undertaken. This paper aims to contribute by separately estimating the magnitude of the underground economy in Qatar from 1980 to 2010 using adjusted currency demand function.

The study uses the Zivot–Andrews unit root test for the stationarity analysis and applies the Gregory and Hansen long run cointegrating technique for estimating the underground economy based on the latest form of the currency demand function model. While the general to specific technique is used to estimate the short run error correction model.

The results show that the average size of the underground economy in Qatar is about 17.03 per cent of the official gross domestic products (GDPs). The average level of tax evasion as a per cent of the total non-oil tax revenues is estimated at around 16.50 per cent and is about 2.12 per cent of the official GDP. The average level of illegal money to the total money from banking sector is estimated at 26.70 per cent.

This study is the first to separately estimate the extent of the underground economy, illegal currency and tax evasion in Qatar. It overcomes the methodological errors and spurious estimation problems encountered in the previous studies that included Qatar with other countries based on cross-country data without taking into consideration the economic differences between countries. The authors believe that the findings may help the government of Qatar to re-formulate its economic policies, thus, enabling it to curb the growing underground economic activities.

The purpose of this study is to analyze and compare the impact of project-factors and organization-factors on five indicators of project performance for small and medium enterprise (SME) and large construction contracting firms that are fully responsible for the successful completion of the projects. The five performance indicators are time, cost, safety, quality and financial.

A questionnaire survey was conducted to solicit responses from project managers/directors from 342 construction firms in Malaysia. The construction firms included in this study came from various sectors: civil, building and infrastructure; oil and gas; marine and multidiscipline. Hierarchical multiple-regression was used to analyze the data.

The salient findings are as follows: (1) impacts of project-factors and organization-factors on performance indicators are different for SMEs and large construction firms and (2) relative impact of organization-factors on performance is much higher than the project-factors.

Analyzing the relative impact of project- and organization-factors on the performance of SMEs and large construction firms can significantly enhance the body of knowledge about performance levels and boost best practices in this respect related to construction industry.

This study integrates fishers’ and decision-makers’ views on the critical factors for non-compliance in the artisanal fisheries of Oman.

A questionnaire survey was implemented covering all coastal governorates of Oman. The questionnaires for fishers and decision-makers contained 46 and 43 questions, respectively, divided into various sections based on the Table of Eleven. Compliance factors were divided into spontaneous factors and enforcement factors. The data were collected through 1,242 questionnaires (1,125 fishers and 117 decision-makers).

The results indicated that spontaneous compliance factors (e.g. financial/economic, level of knowledge and social norms) and enforced compliance factors (e.g. social control, sanction certainty and sanction severity) have a significant influence on fishers' motivation to comply with regulations. The chi-square test (X²) was used to show that the differences between the means of responses of fishers and decision-makers in regard to the factors that influence non-compliance in the fishery were insignificant.

This consistency of opinions has an essential policy inference for the regulatory institutions in that it delivers assistance and trust in fisheries management authority's efforts to create effective compliance plans for the fisheries.

The purpose of this paper is to analyze economically several versions of the philosophical common good in order to contribute to the search for a viable conceptualization of the common good.

The paper presents an economic analysis of the common good by examining the extent to which eight different versions of the philosophical concept possess the consumption characteristics of excludability and rivalry – and thus how each version may be classified as an economic good: private, public, common, or club.

One of the examined versions of the philosophical common good is an economic common good; three versions are club goods; and four versions are public goods. Only those versions of the common good that are classifiable as public goods merit consideration as adequate conceptualizations in political and philosophical thought. In assessing the admissible versions the authors conclude that a viable conceptualization of the common good may simply be the maintenance of a peaceful social order that allows people to pursue their individual and collective goals in community.

The paper shows that an analysis of the philosophical common good using the economic criteria of excludability and rivalry can contribute to common good discourse.

Although zakat is a principal way to redistribute wealth, a unique practice designed to achieve a sustainable Islamic economic and social system, zakat institutions and agencies in most Muslim countries still suffer from the perplexing issue of low zakat collections, ascribing this to the level of compliance among zakat payers. To provide more insight into this lacuna, this study aims to examine the role of trust in zakat institution through the relationship between socio-economic determinants (i.e. religiosity, moral reasoning, peer influence and system fairness) and zakat compliance decisions.

From a typical Islamic country, Yemen, a random sample of 274 entrepreneurs was drawn for a self-administered survey. To estimate and analyze the compliance model, SmartPLS structural equation modeling was used.

The results show that all hypothesized direct relationships are supported. Importantly, the trust-moderated interactions of religiosity, moral reasoning and peer influence on zakat compliance are significant, although its interaction with zakat system fairness is not.

The results should be helpful for policymakers and responsible institutions in Muslim communities to understand how different levels of trust can play an important role in Zakat payers’ compliance to boost or erode zakat funds. This research also contributes important inferences for managers about the necessity of inculcating religious and moral values among zakat payers, formulating a fair system and embarking on sensitization programs in society.

The research enriches the scanty literature by validating a viable compliance model drawing on the socio-economic theory of regulatory compliance. Moreover, the model integrates the moderating role of trust in socio-economic perspectives of zakat compliance.

Although Zakah is the cornerstone of the social protection system in Muslim societies, providing relief to those in need and collecting funds from those who have access to money and property, many administrative and legal improvements need to be made to ensure that Zakah funds are managed effectively and efficiently in Muslim states. It is therefore important to recognize why some Muslims are not paying their Zakah through Zakah authorities. The purpose of this paper is to propose a viable and comprehensive research model, derived from an economic and socio-psychological perspective, to provide a richer understanding of Zakah payers’ compliance behaviour.

Drawing on extant literature, this study offers a conceptual framework for a better understanding of compliance behaviour by proposing an economic and socio-psychological model based on Fischer’s tax compliance model, which could be applied cautiously in an Islamic setting like Zakah.

The four main categories of the Fischer model are derived from socio-psychological and economic perspectives, namely, attitude and perception (system fairness, ethics and peer influence); Zakah system structure (Zakah law complexity and law enforcement); non-compliance opportunity (education level, wealth source and occupation); and demographic factors (age and gender). Each has much to offer in understanding Zakah payers’ compliance decisions. To suit the nature of Zakah, the influence of Islamic religiosity and the moderating effect of trust in the Zakah institution are incorporated into the model.

Those Muslim communities that strive to have functional Zakah systems to search for solutions to the perennial problem of low Zakah funding and its damning consequences, are offered a compliance model for systematically assessing Muslims’ compliance behaviour with Zakah provisions. This framework is anticipated to offer invaluable input to policymakers in streaming and strategizing the minimization of losses of Zakah revenue to Zakah authorities.

Although behavioural models such as the theory of reasoned action and the theory of planned behaviour have been extensively used in Zakah compliance studies, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is perhaps the first to apply a socio-psychological and economic framework, emerging from tax literature, in the Zakah environment to develop fully understanding of Zakah payers’ compliance decisions.