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Many governments wishing to provide telecommunication services to those who are unconnected have chosen the Universal Service Fund (USF) as the principal policy instrument. However, there is evidence that monies directly or indirectly collected from users of telecommunication services are lying unspent in these funds. The purpose of this paper is to propose metrics for measuring the disbursement efficacy of funds across time and across countries as an essential element of improving the performance of the universal service funds.

This paper proposes two metrics, the total disbursement rate (TDR) and the year-on-year disbursement rate (YDR), which can be used to assess the disbursement efficacy of universal service programs. It illustrates the value of the metrics by applying them to the USFs of India, Malaysia and Pakistan.

A move to push out funds has been observed in India in recent years. Pakistan had not reached the same momentum up to mid-2014. An improvement in Malaysia’s disbursement efficacy was observed until 2013, with nearly all of the funds collected in the previous year being disbursed. A significant proportion of the funds collected are lying unspent in the three USFs, nevertheless.

The proposed metrics are robust, objective and parsimonious indicators that allow comparison over time and across countries. They will enable productive, evidence-based conversations that will hold fund administrators accountable and will inform the design and implementation of more effective policy mechanisms.

The primary objective of this paper is to identify and compare the collateral imposition practices among Islamic banks in Indonesia to serve micro, small and medium-sized enterprise (MSME) clients and explore the experiences and perceptions of MSME entrepreneurs pertaining to collateralisation in MSME financing.

This study was carried out by implementing a case study research strategy. The data was gathered primarily through the interview by utilising purposive uncontrolled quota sampling. The interview was conducted using semi-structured interview questions by targeting the two sides of Islamic financial inclusion: the Islamic banking industry (supply-side) and the MSME segment (demand-side).

This paper implies that the collateral provision is indeed an obligatory requirement for MSME to access regular financing in an Islamic bank, preferably the immovable type that consists of land and property. Subsequently, although the Islamic banks offer non-collateralised financing, their disbursement is still relatively scant and limited. Furthermore, despite the collateral issues, most MSME entrepreneurs positively perceive the bank’s collateralisation practice, indicating their awareness and understanding of the collateral purpose and function to access the financing facility.

This paper merely observed six Islamic bank institutions and 22 MSME units in urban and rural areas in Indonesia using a case study approach. Therefore, the empirical findings and case discussions were limited to those around the corresponding Islamic banks and MSME participants.

By referring to the several disclosed issues associated with the collateral imposition practices, this paper presents several recommendations that might be considered by the policymakers and the Islamic banking industry to enhance the realisation of MSME Islamic financial inclusion from the collateral implementation aspect, and thereby, facilitating more inclusive growth for the MSME industry.

This paper is unique since the paper attempts to analyse and compare the collateral imposition practices and its perception from the two distinct sides of Islamic financial inclusion that were represented by Islamic banks and MSMEs in Indonesia by including different types of Islamic banks and different segments of MSME in their diverse business sector within the urban and rural locations.

This article seeks to propose a defined set of Sharīʿah standards and guidelines for the charity account in order to provide clear guidance to Islamic financial institutions (IFIs) and eventually create a standardised practice in the management of the charity account by IFIs worldwide.

This article is based on a literature review regarding the origin and concept of the charity account for IFIs. It makes reference to various primary Sharīʿah sources and contemporary Sharīʿah standards pertaining to impermissible income as it relates to the charity account. It also analyses secondary sources of reference, in particular research papers and case studies on the same subject matter.

This article proposes relevant Sharīʿah standards required for the better functioning and standardisation of the charity account application by IFIs.

This article will help IFIs, standard-setting bodies and regulators to develop a defined charity account framework. It also addresses the gaps discussed in past research and case studies that have not been resolved to date, particularly on the determination and management of charity accounts at the level of IFIs.

The charity account will be better controlled and thus eliminating potential reputational issues arising from collecting and disbursing commitment to donate amounts (CDA).

The charity account distribution will be better managed and thus of more benefit to the society and recipients.

This article promotes the idea of standardisation in the practices of charity accounts, especially in terms of sources and disbursement.

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the issue of bayʿ wa salaf (the combination of sale and loan contracts in a single arrangement) from the Sharīʿah perspective. Based on the Sharīʿah findings on the issue, the paper examines the existing Islamic banking products and services that use these two specific contracts to determine whether the current practice is in line with Sharīʿah.

The paper uses the qualitative method by reviewing and analyzing relevant literature and operational structures to comprehend the issues pertaining to bayʿ (sale) and salaf (loan). It then provides Sharīʿah parameters for bayʿ wa salaf before applying them in assessing some existing Islamic banking products and practices. Subsequently, the compliance status of the banking operations that use these contracts in a specific product structure can be ascertained.

The paper finds that the bayʿ wa salaf arrangement in the existing Islamic banking products and services, as elaborated in the paper, does not fall under the prohibited category. This deduction is made in accordance with the parameters derived from jurists’ discussion on the issue of bayʿ wa salaf. It also takes into consideration other factors influencing the existence of such arrangements.

This conceptual research highlights the jurists’ discussion on the issue of bayʿ wa salaf and the compliance status of the current products and services that use the contracts in a single arrangement (specifically in the case of Malaysia) without discussing other possible structures that can be applied as an alternative to the bayʿ wa salaf arrangement.

Thorough understanding of the issue can strengthen the industry’s confidence in executing operations that conform to Sharīʿah principles.

The paper provides comprehensive deliberation on the ruling of bayʿ wa salaf from various schools of thought and exhaustive elaboration on existing Islamic banking products that apply bayʿ wa salaf in their structures. This contributes in reinforcing the stakeholders’ confidence in the operations of Islamic banking and finance.

Tawarruq (Islamic commodity financing) has evolved as the most ubiquitous concept in Malaysia’s Islamic banking industry. Nevertheless, the extensive use of tawarruq has invoked a number of Sharīʿah (Islamic law) concerns in its practice. This study aims to investigate the Sharīʿah non-compliant (SNC) phenomena in the practice of tawarruq financing in Malaysia.

This study adopts qualitative research methodology, combining both descriptive and content analysis. A self-administered questionnaire was distributed to 16 Malaysian Islamic commercial banks to unveil the Sharīʿah non-compliance issues in the application of tawarruq in Islamic banks (IBs) in Malaysia.

The study found that some practices of tawarruq in Malaysia might not comply with the Sharīʿah, mainly due to the improper sequencing of contracts. The study also discovered that IBs adopt different approaches in dealing with SNC events and the income derived therefrom. Finally, the study noted the influence of board of director/management on certain Sharīʿah decisions particularly on the treatment of non-ḥalāl (impermissible) income.

The findings of the study serve as a reference to industry players and regulators in formulating a Sharīʿah non-compliance risk management framework for tawarruq practices.

The survey on SNC issues in tawarruq practice constitutes the first of its kind in the existing literature.

The purpose of this study is to develop new type of reverse mortgage contract. How to provide adequate services and housing for an increasing number of people that are dependent on the help of others is a crucial question in the European Union (EU). The housing stock in Europe is not fit to support a shift from institutional care to the home-based independent living. Some 90% of houses in the UK and 70%–80% in Germany are not adequately built, as they contain accessibility barriers for people with emerging functional impairments. The available reverse mortgage contracts do not allow for relocation to their own adapted facilities. How to finance the adaptation from housing equity is discussed.

The authors have extended the existing loan reverse mortgage model. Actuarial methods based on the equivalence of the actuarial present values and the multiple decrement approach are used to evaluate premiums for flexible longevity and lifetime long-term care (LTC) insurance for financing adequate facilities.

The adequate, age-friendly housing provision that is appropriate to support the independence and autonomy of seniors with declining functional capacities can lower the cost of health care and improve the well-being of older adults. For financing the development of this kind of facilities for seniors, the authors developed the reverse mortgage scheme with embedded longevity and LTC insurance as a possible financial instrument for better LTC services and housing with care in assisted-living facilities. This kind of facilities should be available for the rapid growth of older cohorts.

The numerical example is based on rather crude numbers, because of lack of data, as the developed reverse mortgage product with LTC insurance is a novelty. Intensity of care and probabilities of care in certain category of care will change after the introduction of this product.

The model results indicate that it is possible to successfully tie an insurance product to the insured and not to the object.

The introduction of this insurance option will allow many older adult with low pension benefits and a substantial home equity to safely opt for a reverse mortgage and benefit from better social care.

While currently available reverse mortgage contracts lapse when the homeowner moves to assisted-living facilities in any EU Member State, in the paper a new method is developed where multiple adjustments of housing to the functional capacities with relocation is possible, under the same insurance and reverse mortgage contract. The case of Slovenia is presented as a numerical example. These insurance products, as a novelty, are portable, so the homeowner can move in own specialised housing unit in assisted-living facilities and keep the existing reverse mortgage contract with no additional costs, which is not possible in the current insurance products. With some small modifications, the method is useful for any EU Member State.

This paper aims to contribute to the debate over the desirability of introducing an accrual-based accounting system in the public sector by examining whether accrual-based accounting information is superior to cash-based information in the context of public sector entities.

This paper applies a quantitative research method to assess the degree of smoothness and relevance of the accrual components of income recorded by 302 entities of the Italian National Health Service (INHS) over the period 2014–2020.

The analysis reveals that net income is smoother than cash flows as a summary measure of economic results and that accounting for accruals improves the predictability of future cash flows. However, the authors' novel disaggregation of accrual accounts reveals that those accounts that contribute the most to making income smoother than cash flows – noncurrent assets and liabilities – are also those that contribute the least to predicting future cash flows.

The disaggregation of accrual accounts allows to identify the sources of the informational benefits of accrual accounting, and to document the existence of an informational “trade-off” between smoothness and relevance in the context of public sector entities.

The purpose of this paper is to provide evidence-based policy recommendations for improving the implementation of universal service funds (USF) with a view to closing the digital divide in Africa.

The paper adopts a qualitative approach that draws examples from various African countries supported by 25 interviews from key stakeholders with hands-on experience and roles that shape telecommunications policy in Africa and other developing countries.

The study's findings point out that institutional voids which characterize several African countries inhibit the effectiveness of USF in African countries. The authors identify several institutional and organisational factors and explain how they negatively affect the performance of USF. The authors find that in order to overcome these obstacles, there is a need for a clear redefinition of Universal Access and Service (UAS) policies, restructuring the governance of USF, encouraging cross-sectoral collaborations, and bottom-up initiatives to bridge the digital divide in African countries.

The paper contributes to the underexplored USF literature by shedding light on the role of institutional factors in determining the success of USF. The paper thus complements and provides a different perspective on promoting digital inclusion in Africa from the viewpoint of institutional voids, bringing new insights into the existing literature on how to deal with an intractable area of UAS policy and the wider digital divide debate in developing countries.

The challenge of accessibility to adequate housing in several countries by a large percentage of citizens has given rise to different housing programs designed to facilitate access to affordable housing. In South Africa, the National Housing Finance Corporation (NHFC) was created to provides housing loans to low- and middle-income earners. Thus, the purpose of this study was to evaluate the implication of the macroeconomic risk elements on the performance of the NHFC incremental housing finance.

This study used a mixed-method approach to examine the time-series data of the NHFC over 17 years (2003–2020), relative to selected macroeconomic indicators. Additionally, this study analysed primary data from a 2022 survey of NHFC Executives.

This study found that incremental housing finance addresses a housing affordability gap, caters to disadvantaged groups, adapts to changing macroeconomic conditions and can mitigate default risk. It also finds that the performance of the NHFC’s incremental housing finance is premised on the behaviour of the macroeconomic elements that drive its strategy in South Africa.

Unlike previous works on housing finance, this case study of the NHFC considers the implication of macroeconomic trends when disbursing incremental housing finance to low- and middle-level income earners as a risk mitigation measure for the South African market. Its mixed method use of quantitative and qualitative data also allows a robust insight into trends that drive investment in incremental housing finance in South Africa.

The main purpose of the paper is to examine the truth behind allegations of neo-colonialism performed by China toward Africa, which was raised due to the growing relationship between China and Africa that enhanced the debate between supporters of the notion of neo-colonialism or mutual beneficial relationship. In addition to the growing number of arguments are on the dominance of PRC in Africa over the western powers as European Union or United States in the Continent.

The paper investigates the claims of neo-colonialism practiced by China toward Africa through the lenses of international political economy using the Interdependence theory of neoliberalists. Egypt was selected as a case study due to the emphases that Egypt gives to China as a strategic partner and as rising economic power as well as representing a way of diversifying Egypt's foreign policy and an additional economic partner beside the western ones. The research relied on two interwoven indicators to investigate the main argument: Trade and Development Aid.

The two pillars of analysis indicate that the growing relationship between Egypt and China is a form of interdependent relationship that is expected to get further complex in the future, which is relatively indicated among other things in the synergy Egypt has made between its Vision 2030 and China's Belt and Road Initiative. In reference to development aid, China uses different techniques that is not commonly used by the donors of Official Development Assistance (“ODA”), and due to unpublished actual data on China's aid figures, any indication of dominance is hard to attain regardless a solo incident of debt trap in Africa, the model of China's aid is provided through low-interest loans for development projects that is highly important for developing countries.

The paper tried to engage in the ongoing debate and examine the truth behind the neo-colonial allegations from the perspective of international political economy, which is an added value to the literature in this regard as the data provided are prepared for the present research purpose.