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Article
Publication date: 16 November 2015

Raéf Bahrini

– The purpose of this paper is to analyze the total factor productivity (TFP)[1] change and to investigate its determinants in the case of MENA Islamic banks.

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the total factor productivity (TFP)[1] change and to investigate its determinants in the case of MENA Islamic banks.

Design/methodology/approach

In the first stage, bootstrapped Malmquist index approach is used to provide a robust analysis of the changes in the productivity of 33 Islamic banks operating in 10 MENA countries during the period 2006-2011. In the second stage, panel data models are used to investigate the determinants of TFP change.

Findings

The results of the first stage show that Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) banks have known a productivity decline between 2006 and 2011 due to technical regress and scale inefficiency. In contrast, non-GCC banks have improved their productivity by benefiting from scale economies. The results of the second stage show that the productivity growth of MENA Islamic banks was mainly determined by bank-specific factors and that TFP indices decreased in the period of global financial crisis.

Practical implications

This paper provides relevant recommendations for improving the productivity of Islamic banks operating in the MENA countries.

Originality/value

This paper attempts to fill a demanding gap in the literature by examining productivity change and investigating its determinants using cross-country data of MENA Islamic banks. In addition, it is one of the few studies that have applied the bootstrapped Malmquist index approach in the case of Islamic banking.

Details

International Journal of Islamic and Middle Eastern Finance and Management, vol. 8 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1753-8394

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 25 February 2020

Yousra Trichilli, Mouna Boujelbène Abbes and Afif Masmoudi

The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the capability of the hidden Markov model using Googling investors’ sentiments to predict the dynamics of Islamic indexes’ returns in the…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the capability of the hidden Markov model using Googling investors’ sentiments to predict the dynamics of Islamic indexes’ returns in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) financial markets from 2004 to 2018.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors propose a hidden Markov model based on the transition matrix to apprehend the relationship between investor’s sentiment and Islamic index returns. The proposed model facilitates capturing the uncertainties in Islamic market indexes and the possible effects of the dynamics of Islamic market on the persistence of these regimes or States.

Findings

The bearish state is the most persistent sentiment with the longest duration for all the MENA Islamic markets except for Jordan, Morocco and Qatar. In addition, the obtained results indicate that the effect of sentiment on predicting the future Islamic index returns is conditional on the MENA States. Besides, the estimated mean returns for each state indicates that the bullish and calm states are ideal for investing in Islamic indexes of Bahrain, Oman, Morocco, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates. However, only the bullish state is ideal for investing Islamic indexes of Jordan, Egypt and Qatar.

Research limitations/implications

This paper has used data at a monthly frequency that can explain only short-term dynamics between Googling investor’s sentiment and the MENA Islamic stock market returns. Moreover, this work can be done on the stock markets while taking into account the specificity of each activity sector.

Practical implications

In fact, the findings of this paper are helpful for academics, analysts and practitioners, and more specifically for the Islamic MENA financial investors. Moreover, this study provides useful insights not only into the duration of the relationship between the indexes’ returns and the investors’ sentiments in the five states but also into the transition probabilities which have implications for how investors could be guided in their choice of future investment in a portfolio with Islamic indexes. Findings of this paper are important and valuable for policy-makers and investors. Thus, predicting the effect of Googling investors’ sentiment on the MENA Islamic stock market dynamics is important for portfolio diversification by domestic and international investors. Moreover, the results of this paper gave new insights into financial analysts about the dynamic relationship between Googling investors’ sentiment and Islamic stock market returns across market regimes. Therefore, the findings of this study might be useful for investors as they help them capture the unobservable dynamics of the changes in the investors’ sentiment regimes in the MENA financial markets to make successful investment decisions.

Originality/value

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this paper is the first to use the hidden Markov model to examine changes in the Islamic index return dynamics across five market sentiment states, namely the depressed sentiment (S1), the bullish sentiment (S2), the bearish sentiment (S3), the calm sentiment (S4) and the bubble sentiment (S5).

Details

International Journal of Islamic and Middle Eastern Finance and Management, vol. 13 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1753-8394

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 19 December 2019

Monia Antar and Fatma Alahouel

This paper aims to analyse the opportunity of an exclusive investment in the DJ Islamic indexes. The objective is to characterize the links between MENA region index with seven DJ…

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to analyse the opportunity of an exclusive investment in the DJ Islamic indexes. The objective is to characterize the links between MENA region index with seven DJ Islamic indexes.

Design/methodology/approach

A co-movement analysis was conducted to assess whether there is a safe investment during crisis. The VECM verifies the existence of a long run association. The MGARCH-DCC characterizes the dynamic links. The wavelet coherence detects a correlation in a time-frequency domain, which is relevant to set up a diversification strategy based on investment horizons.

Findings

Despite the existence of a long run association between the Islamic indexes, diversification opportunities are present. The MGARCH-DCC results recommend including the USA, Canada and Emerging Markets indexes with the Mena index to get diversification benefits. The Wavelet coherence confirms these results for 0 to 16 days holding period and more than six-months’ investment horizons. Hence, MENA portfolio managers should not invest in Europe, UK and Emerging Markets indexes.

Research limitations/implications

This study focused only on the bivariate correlation analysis without taking into consideration multivariate relationships. Future research should use multiple wavelet coherence and explore S&P Shariah indexes.

Practical implications

This work is important for investors searching for assets governed by sharia rules, who reject resorting to conventional markets, and policy makers dealing with coordination costs. They would be able to formulate strategies based on the different indexes’ relationships.

Originality/value

This paper enriches the limited stream of literature focusing only on Islamic indexes. Due to the important development of Islamic Finance in each MENA country, the authors shed the light on this Region’s index.

Details

International Journal of Islamic and Middle Eastern Finance and Management, vol. 13 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1753-8394

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 3 June 2014

Mejda Bahlous and Rosylin Mohd. Yusof

The purpose of this paper is to assess the benefits to investors of international diversification among only Islamic funds. Compared to conventional investors who are not…

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to assess the benefits to investors of international diversification among only Islamic funds. Compared to conventional investors who are not restricted in their choice of funds, Islamic investors are restricted to investing in shari’a-compliant funds, thus giving up some diversification benefits. The possibility of international diversification among only Islamic funds may thus help Islamic investors to invest in accordance to their religious beliefs and still benefit from diversification.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper assesses the benefits of diversification by analyzing the extent of co-integration among four regional Islamic funds and by estimating the short-term and long-term structural dynamics of and among these funds. The paper uses an Autoregressive-Distributed Lag (ARDL) approach to testing the long-run relationships among these funds and use variance decomposition and impulse response functions to examine the structural dynamics of the relationship between these funds. These methods can also be used for predictive purposes and represent, in authors opinion, a useful approach that complements the traditional methodology of static covariance matrix to find the efficient frontier at a given moment in time.

Findings

The results indicate that international diversification can help reduce risk if Asia Pacific Islamic funds and MENA region Islamic funds are invested contemporaneously and/or Asia Pacific Islamic funds and North America Islamic funds, and/or Europe funds and MENA funds. The paper also finds that investors would benefit from investing in North American funds and MENA funds both in the long run and in the short run. Conversely, the paper finds that Europe funds and North American funds are co-integrated in the long-run precluding the opportunity for substantial diversification benefits from these particular portfolio mixes.

Research limitations/implications

The long-run analysis helps passive fund managers and investors in composing their portfolio by providing evidence that some portfolio mixes of different regional Islamic funds lead to better risk return performance than one regional Islamic fund portfolios. The short-run analysis however helps the active fund managers and investors as it suggests that diversifying in the short run and reviewing their portfolio on a regular basis would be beneficial as well.

Originality/value

This analysis justifies the promotion of Islamic finance as the negative correlation between several Islamic funds across the regions studied suggests better opportunities of investments via international diversification making Islamic funds more desirable.

Article
Publication date: 16 April 2020

Wassim Ben Ayed, Ibrahim Fatnassi and Abderrazak Ben Maatoug

The purpose of this study is to investigate the performance of Value-at-Risk (VaR) models for nine Middle East and North Africa Islamic indices using RiskMetrics and VaR…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to investigate the performance of Value-at-Risk (VaR) models for nine Middle East and North Africa Islamic indices using RiskMetrics and VaR parametric models.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors test the performance of several VaR models using Kupiec and Engle and Manganelli tests at 95 and 99 per cent levels for long and short trading positions, respectively, for the period from August 10, 2006 to December 14, 2014.

Findings

The authors’ findings show that the VaR under Student and skewed Student distribution are preferred at a 99 per cent level VaR. However, at 95 per cent level, the VaR forecasts obtained under normal distribution are more accurate than those generated using models with fat-tailed distributions. These results suggest that VaR is a good tool for measuring market risk. The authors support the use of RiskMetrics during calm periods and the asymmetric models (Generalized Autoregressive Conditional Heteroskedastic and the Asymmetric Power ARCH model) during stressed periods.

Practical implications

These results will be useful to investors and risk managers operating in Islamic markets, because their success depends on the ability to forecast stock price movements. Therefore, because a few Islamic financial institutions use internal models for their capital calculations, the regulatory committee should enhance market risk disclosure.

Originality/value

This study contributes to the knowledge in this area by improving our understanding of market risk management for Islamic assets during the stress periods. Then, it highlights important implications regarding financial risk management. Finally, this study fills a gap in the literature, as most empirical studies dealing with evaluating VaR prediction models have focused on quantifying the model risk in the conventional market.

Details

Journal of Islamic Accounting and Business Research, vol. 11 no. 9
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1759-0817

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 25 September 2023

Wassim Ben Ayed and Rim Ben Hassen

This research aims to evaluate the accuracy of several Value-at-Risk (VaR) approaches for determining the Minimum Capital Requirement (MCR) for Islamic stock markets during the…

Abstract

Purpose

This research aims to evaluate the accuracy of several Value-at-Risk (VaR) approaches for determining the Minimum Capital Requirement (MCR) for Islamic stock markets during the pandemic health crisis.

Design/methodology/approach

This research evaluates the performance of numerous VaR models for computing the MCR for market risk in compliance with the Basel II and Basel II.5 guidelines for ten Islamic indices. Five models were applied—namely the RiskMetrics, Generalized Autoregressive Conditional Heteroskedasticity, denoted (GARCH), fractional integrated GARCH, denoted (FIGARCH), and SPLINE-GARCH approaches—under three innovations (normal (N), Student (St) and skewed-Student (Sk-t) and the extreme value theory (EVT).

Findings

The main findings of this empirical study reveal that (1) extreme value theory performs better for most indices during the market crisis and (2) VaR models under a normal distribution provide quite poor performance than models with fat-tailed innovations in terms of risk estimation.

Research limitations/implications

Since the world is now undergoing the third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, this study will not be able to assess performance of VaR models during the fourth wave of COVID-19.

Practical implications

The results suggest that the Islamic Financial Services Board (IFSB) should enhance market discipline mechanisms, while central banks and national authorities should harmonize their regulatory frameworks in line with Basel/IFSB reform agenda.

Originality/value

Previous studies focused on evaluating market risk models using non-Islamic indexes. However, this research uses the Islamic indexes to analyze the VaR forecasting models. Besides, they tested the accuracy of VaR models based on traditional GARCH models, whereas the authors introduce the Spline GARCH developed by Engle and Rangel (2008). Finally, most studies have focus on the period of 2007–2008 financial crisis, while the authors investigate the issue of market risk quantification for several Islamic market equity during the sanitary crisis of COVID-19.

Details

PSU Research Review, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2399-1747

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 6 April 2023

Hana Kharrat, Yousra Trichilli and Boujelbène Abbes

This paper aims to describe a new method for constructing the FintTech Index that measures the development of FinTech in the conventional and Islamic banking sectors in the Middle…

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to describe a new method for constructing the FintTech Index that measures the development of FinTech in the conventional and Islamic banking sectors in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). It also tests the effect of this new proxy on the performance of conventional and Islamic banks in MENA countries.

Design/methodology/approach

Using data from Islamic and conventional banks in the MENA region between 2010 and 2020, the authors rely on Text Mining Technology with the help of AntConc, principal component and factor analysis. The study also uses the simultaneous equation model to test the interdependent relationship between FinTech and bank performance.

Findings

The study argues that the proposed measure effectively represents the FinTech industry in the MENA financial markets. The results provide micro evidence on the application of FinTech innovation in Islamic and conventional banks to improve their performance, profitability, stability and efficiency. Furthermore, the findings can provide insights for practitioners and researchers interested in implementing FinTech collaboration to enhance the performance of Islamic and conventional banks in the MENA region.

Practical implications

Investors can leverage this FinTech Index in portfolio investments, trading strategy and hedging in MENA countries. In addition, policymakers can benefit from the challenges outlined in this work to support the development and incubation of FinTech in conventional and Islamic banks. Thus, they can better recognize the new generation of banking services with which they need to deal and collaborate.

Originality/value

This paper makes a methodological contribution to the literature on FinTech search patterns by combining factor analysis with corpus processing software. This is the most comprehensive global FinTech index. In addition, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first to examine the simultaneous relationship between the FinTech index and the performance of Islamic and conventional banks.

Details

Journal of Islamic Accounting and Business Research, vol. 15 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1759-0817

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 21 August 2023

Naveenan Ramaian Vasantha, Chee Yoong Liew and Ploypailin Kijkasiwat

Research on financial inclusion (FI) in Islamic countries has evolved and gained prominence. This study aims to construct an extensive multidimensional FI index to ascertain the…

Abstract

Purpose

Research on financial inclusion (FI) in Islamic countries has evolved and gained prominence. This study aims to construct an extensive multidimensional FI index to ascertain the level of inclusion and trends in the Middle East/North Africa (MENA) countries. Additionally, this study examines the potential role of Islamic finance in improving access to financial services.

Design/methodology/approach

Data for the study were collected from databases covering MENA countries for the period 2010–2020. An inclusion index has been constructed using the entropy method.

Findings

Key findings indicate that the overall FI has improved in Islamic countries. However, it should be noted that all MENA countries fall within the low or medium levels of the inclusion index. It was observed that insurance access and penetration savings were poor in the Islamic MENA countries.

Social implications

The authors recommend that policymakers focus on insurance access and saving behaviour in their respective countries. Based upon these observations, policymakers should promote the economic benefits of Islamic finance, which will help improve FI and economic development in Islamic countries. This study emphasises the necessity of policy framework reform to provide Islamic financial services to the poorest in society at low or no cost for better economic benefits.

Originality/value

Most studies tend to overlook important indicators such as insurance, savings and credit penetration while calculating the index. These indicators add value to the existing literature. The majority of prior studies used United Nation Development Programme methodology or principal component analysis for Inclusion Index measurements. The adoption of the entropy weighting method is the novelty of this study.

Details

International Journal of Islamic and Middle Eastern Finance and Management, vol. 16 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1753-8394

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 14 December 2021

Miroslav Mateev, Syed Moudud-Ul-Huq and Ahmad Sahyouni

This paper aims to investigate the impact of regulation and market competition on the risk-taking Behaviour of financial institutions in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to investigate the impact of regulation and market competition on the risk-taking Behaviour of financial institutions in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region.

Design/methodology/approach

The empirical framework is based on panel fixed effects/random effects specification. For robustness purpose, this study also uses the generalized method of moments estimation technique. This study tests the hypothesis that regulatory capital requirements have a significant effect on financial stability of Islamic and conventional banks (CBs) in the MENA region. This study also investigates the moderating effect of market power and concentration on the relationship between capital regulation and bank risk.

Findings

The estimation results support the view that capital adequacy ratio (CAR) has no significant impact on credit risk of Islamic banks (IBs), whereas market competition does play a significant role in shaping the risk behavior of these institutions. This study report opposite results for CBs – an increase in the minimum capital requirements is followed by an increase in a bank’s risk level, which has a negative impact on their financial stability. Furthermore, the results support the notion of a non-linear relationship between banking concentration and bank risk. The findings inform the regulatory authorities concerned with improving the financial stability of banking sector in the MENA region to set their policy differently depending on the level of concentration in the banking market.

Research limitations/implications

This study contributes to the literature on the effectiveness of regulatory reforms (in this case, capital requirements) and market competition for bank performance and risk-taking. In regard to IBs, capital requirements are less effective in requiring IBs to adjust their risk level according to the Basel III methodology. This study finds that IBs’ risk behavior is strongly associated with market competition, and therefore, the interest rates. Moreover, banks operating in markets with high banking concentration (but not necessarily, low competition), will decrease their credit risk level in response to an increase in the minimum capital requirements. As a result, these banks will be more stable compared to their conventional peers. Thus, regulators and policymakers in the MENA region should restrict the risk-taking behavior of IBs through stringent capital requirements and more intense banking supervision.

Practical implications

The practical implications of these findings are that the regulatory authorities concerned with improving banking sector stability in the MENA region should proceed differently, depending on the level of banking market concentration. The findings inform regulators and policymakers to set capital requirements at levels that would restrict banks from taking more risk to increase their returns. They are also important for bank managers who should avoid risky strategies in response to increased regulatory pressure (e.g. increase in the minimum required capital level of 8%), as they may lead to an increase in the level of non-performing loans, and therefore, a greater probability of bank default. A future extension of this study will focus on testing the effect of bank risk-taking and market competition on the capitalization levels of banks in the MENA countries. More specifically, this study will investigates if banks raise their capitalization levels during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Originality/value

The analysis of previous research indicates that there is no unambiguous answer to the question of whether IBs perform differently than CBs under different competitive conditions. To fill this gap, this study examines the influence of capital regulation and market competition (both individually and interactively) on bank risk-taking behavior using a large sample of banking institutions in 18 MENA countries over 14 years (2005–2018). For the first time in this line of research, this study shows that the level of market power is positively associated with the level of a bank’ insolvency risk. In others words, IBs operating in highly competitive markets are more inclined to take a higher risk than their conventional peers. Regarding the IBs credit risk behavior, this study finds that market power has a limited impact on the relationship between CAR and risk level. This means that IBs are still applying in their operations the theoretical models based on the prohibition of interest.

Details

Journal of Islamic Accounting and Business Research, vol. 13 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1759-0817

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 14 September 2018

Ahmed A. Sarhan and Collins G. Ntim

This paper aims to investigate the level of compliance with, and disclosure of, corporate governance best practice recommendations and the firm- and country-level factors that can…

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to investigate the level of compliance with, and disclosure of, corporate governance best practice recommendations and the firm- and country-level factors that can explain discernible differences in the level of compliance with, and disclosure of, corporate governance best practice recommendations in a number of Middle Eastern and North African (MENA) countries.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors use the widely used content analysis technique to examine the level of compliance with, and disclosure of, corporate governance best practice recommendations in a sample of listed corporations in MENA countries. In addition, the authors use the ordinary least square multiple regression analysis technique to examine the firm- and country-level antecedents of the level of compliance with, and disclosure of, corporate governance best practice recommendations. The findings are generally robust to different types of firm- and country-level factors, alternative measures and potential endogeneity problems.

Findings

The findings of this study are two-fold. First, the level of voluntary compliance with, and disclosure of, corporate governance best practice recommendations among MENA listed corporations is low and differs substantially across firms. Second, the evidence suggests that firm- and country-level factors, including religiosity, national governance quality and macroeconomic factors, have a positive and significant impact on voluntary compliance with, and disclosure of, corporate governance best practice recommendations.

Originality/value

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this paper is the first to examine both the potential firm- and country-level factors affecting voluntary compliance with, and disclosure of, corporate governance best practice recommendations among MENA listed corporations from a neo-institutional theoretical perspective. The results of our study provide regulators and policymakers with the impetus to encourage greater efforts towards pursuing reforms that seek to improve national governance quality, economic environment and positive religious practices.

Details

Managerial Auditing Journal, vol. 33 no. 6/7
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0268-6902

Keywords

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