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This paper aims to investigate the economic, political or sociocultural determinants of corruption in Tunisia.

To better understand the main determinants of corruption in Tunisia. This study uses The Bayesian Model Averaging (BMA) model, which allows us to include a large number of explanatory variables and for a shorter period.

The results show that economic freedom is the most important variable of corruption in Tunisia. In second place comes the subsidies granted by the government, which is one of the best shelters of corruption in Tunisia through their use for purposes different from those already allocated to them. Third, this paper finds the high unemployment rate, which, in turn, is getting worse even nowadays. The other three factors considered as causal but of lesser importance are public expenditures, the human development index (HDI) and education. Education, the HDI and the unemployment rate are all socio-economic factors that promote corruption.

The realization of this study will lead to triple net contributions. The first is to introduce explicitly and simultaneously political, social and economic determinants of corruption in developing countries. Second, unlike previous studies based on the simple and generalized regression model, the present research uses another novel and highly developed estimation method. More precisely, this study uses the BMA model, on the set of annual data for a period of 1998–2018. The third contribution of this research resides in the choice of the sample.

This paper aims to investigate the compliance of Islamic banks (IBs) with the AAOIFI standard No. 7, in Middle East and North Africa area during the period 2010-2014. The authors seek to identify, among the 15 countries and 72 banks, those which conform more to this standard. The level of compliance is expected to be more stringent in countries where AAOIFI standards are made mandatory.

The paper uses the unweighted disclosure method which measures the corporate social report disclosure (CSRD) score of a bank as additive. Each country and bank are assessed according to two obligatory and voluntary CSRDs.

The empirical results indicate that even though the global disclosure index has been improved over the observation period, it has remained relatively low. The results also allowed us to see that the global, mandatory and voluntary societal disclosures vary according to the country and banks. Further, it has been seen that banks allow more attention to the mandatory disclosure recommendations of AAOIFI Governance Standard No. 7, in comparison with the voluntary CSRD.

One limitation of this study is that the sample is restricted to only the Islamic banking sector. Future research could include other Islamic financial institutions (IFIs) such as insurance companies. Second, the study could be extended to other countries to better control the religious system and cultural effects. Because in our modern era, traditional laws in the Muslim world have been widely replaced by statutes inspired by European models, the authors suggest then to apply a new classification that separates, for instance, countries that rely on an Islamic model from those with a western model, and national banks from those allied with western banks. Finally, the paper’s data collection relies solely on annual reports and does not include publications from bank sites. Future research could consider all these limitations. Another possible avenue could examine the determinants of such disclosure level.

Almost no study has been limited to the text of the AOIFFI. This detail is important for some countries where the AAOIFI standards are mandatory.

The findings may be of interest to shareholders and all those who deal with IBs that have religious expectations.

Despite the fact that most studies investigated compliance of IB Sharia law, almost no study has been limited to the text of the AOIFFI. This detail is important for some countries where the AAOIFI standards are mandatory. The findings may be of interest to shareholders and all those who deal with IBs that have religious expectations.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the determinants of operational losses in insurance companies.

By using most common estimates of frequency and severity of losses that affected business‐lines during 2009, the paper integrates a quantitative aspect that reflects the mode of organization in the insurance company. In this paper, it would be more appropriate to focus on the frequency and severity of losses estimated by insurers and which are related to each category of operational risk events that took place in 2009.

The paper finds that the frequency of operational losses is positively related to the Market Share (MARKSHARE) and the Rate of Geographic Location (RAGELOC). However, the occurrence of loss is negatively related to the Variety of Insurance Activities (VARIACT). The paper also found a decrease in the frequency of losses associated with a large number of employees. Therefore, there is a significant relationship between the Human Factor (HF) and the occurrence of operational losses. In terms of severity, the empirical study has shown that the probability of zero intensity of operational losses is negatively influenced by the Market Share (MARKSHARE) and the Rate of Geographic Location (RAGELOC). In the same framework, the Variety of Insurance Activities (VARIACT) has a negative effect on the probability of high operational loss severity.

Despite the absence of the quantitative data of operational risk, this article will discover a new research perspective to estimate the frequency and severity of operational losses in the insurance sector in Tunisia.

This paper investigates the nature of the causal relationship between stock price and exchange rate related to five emerging countries – Mexico, Argentina, Brazil, Thailand, and Malaya – by applying the techniques of unit root, a test proposed by Toda and Yamamoto (1995), the variance decomposition analysis, and the impulse response function. Empirically, we have found that there is a unidirectional Granger causality for all these countries. This relationship is very important, especially for the case of Malaya. Our results also suggest that total convertibility strengthens the relation between the two markets, but cannot be considered as a crucial determining factor.

We examine frames expressed during the Arab Uprisings that toppled authoritarian regimes in Tunisia, Egypt, and Libya in 2011. Through a visual analysis of 3,506 photographs taken at protest sites, we identify a new type of master frame, the “reclamation” master frame, in which protestors assert their right to what they feel they should have but has not been delivered or has been stolen from them by dictators. In the cases we consider, protestors reclaimed their right to (1) integrity of governance; (2) a proud nation, and (3) the dignity of the victims of state violence. They framed their struggle as a redefinition of the relationship between state and citizens. Identifying the master frame of reclamation as central to the Arab Uprisings, we argue that it helps us understand how protestors sustained mobilization over days and weeks in the face of brutal repressions. We suggest that it opens avenues for research on protests in authoritarian regimes.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effect of earnings quality on banking stability in Gulf Cooperation Council countries. First, the author isolates the discretionary loan loss provision (DLLP) to investigate the impact of total LLP, DLLP, discretionary accruals and a small positive variation in net income on bank stability. Second, the author investigates differences that may exist between Islamic banks (IBs) and conventional banks (CBs) in terms of the impact of DLLP on bank stability.

This research is based on unbalanced panel data for 39 IBs and 64 CBs in the six Gulf Cooperation Council countries over the 2000–2014 period.

The findings indicate that the extent of stability is negatively associated with the level of DLLP. This study also found significant differences between the two banking sectors in the effect of DLLP on bank stability.

This study has various practical implications. First, it provides insights for governments and regulators about introducing instruments like borrower restrictions and dynamic provisions to reduce LLP, because it negatively affects banking stability. Second, bankers should carefully assess the effects of their LLP strategies to overcome any negative effects. Third, the findings are also relevant to shareholders, investors and bank customers. More specifically, the results will help to improving their understanding of how LLP is not a financial strength and it is subject to managers’ opportunism that can lead to a financial instability. Finally, this study’s results encourage researchers to investigate an unexplored question, namely, the procyclicality of LLP and its determinants and effects.

To the best of the author’s knowledge, this is the first study to investigate differences that may exist between Islamic and CBs in terms of the impact of DLLP on bank stability.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of discretionary loan loss provisions (DLLPs) and non-performing loans (NPLs) on the liquidity risk of both Islamic banks (IBs) and conventional banks (CBs) before and after the global crisis that hit nations belonging to the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).

This empirical study uses balanced panel data on 16 IBs and 58 CBs operating in the six Gulf Cooperation states covering 2000–2014. The data were obtained from the Bankscope database and the banks’ annual reports.

The results indicate that NPLs affect liquidity risk differently across the banks – specifically, there is a significant difference in the funding and managing of liquidity between the two bank types. The authors find that the influence of DLLPs does not vary across the banks in the overall analysis and before the crisis. This finding provides insights into the unique nature of banking risks in dual banking systems. The authors also find that after the crisis, the discretionary LLPs affected liquidity risk differently across the banks.

This study has several practical implications. First, the findings suggest that the Islamic Financial Services Board and other IBs regulators should reassess several regulations, principles and products in order to reduce their credit and liquidity risks. Second, the study emphasizes the need for banks to perform a careful assessment of the effects of their LLP policies. Finally, the findings are also relevant to bankers, as they provide empirical evidence on the effect of loan growth on bank liquidity, suggesting that bankers should improve their loan management.

First, this is the first study to examine discretionary LLPs, NPLs and liquidity risk in IBs; it is also the first comparative study between Islamic and CBs. Second, the study provides evidence on how the global crisis impacted the banking sector and identifies some of the main determinants of liquidity risk for both Islamic and CBs operating in GCC countries.

This study sheds light on the determinants related to the corporate board of directors and the firms’ ownership nature of tax aggressiveness strategies of Tunisian listed firms and what could be their effect on its level in a postrevolution context.

Our research considers only nonfinancial firms listed in the Tunisian stock exchange during the 2011–2017 period. It is based on unbalanced panel data.

Findings suggest that women presence on the corporate board, CEO duality, the managerial and institutional ownership regularize significantly the level and the management's behavior of engagement in tax aggressiveness practices and reduce the firm’s overall risks of its consequences in terms of tax positions stability.

Our investigation considers only nonfinancial firms to avoid noisy results and for the significant differences between accounting standards within financial and nonfinancial firms, besides sample homogeneity and comparability considerations.

This study provides evidence that some governance mechanisms, even reasonably dedicated to consider the risk of tax aggressiveness and to prevent its consequences, have a paradoxical effect and amplify the tax aggressiveness’ level rather than defending the firm’s viability and its financial stability. It offers signals to managers about specific governance attributes that strengthen and/or control the extent of tax aggressive strategies.

This research gives a particular road map for society, investors and practitioners to depict the firms’ level of tax aggressiveness and especially to understand its attributes related to the corporate board of directors and the ownership's nature through evidences from a postrevolution context.

Our research contributes to prior literature by examining the effect of corporate board characteristics and different ownership natures on the extent of tax aggressiveness during and after the revolution period in Tunisia and confirms and infers some prior findings of tax aggressive determinants in underdevelopment context.