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The purpose of this paper is to conduct a behavioral analysis, through overconfidence, in order to understand how this cognitive bias could affect risk taking and inefficiency in Islamic and conventional banks operating in the MENA region.

To achieve the objective, the authors considered two overconfidence proxies, namely loan growth rate and net interest margin. Using the generalized method of moments method regressions for panel data, the authors found that the two overconfidence proxies have an effect on the risk exposure and consequently on the efficiency level of Islamic and conventional banks.

In general, overconfidence bias causes excessive risk taking and the degradation of the cost efficiency level. Moreover, these effects emerge with a delay of three to four years and have implications that are not too different for both types of banks.

The main motivation underlying this research study is the relatively new field of behavioral finance way in treating the topic of overconfidence. The particularity of the overconfidence bias topic is its assumption that financial decisions can be influenced by cognitive biases, ignoring the fact of a predetermined risk-return calculation.

Blockchain is a relatively new technology. Although it has a high potential to influence organizational strategies for adoption into respective operations, it has not been widely explored yet. This study aims to assess the sectoral diversity in the timing of organizational adoption of blockchain through selected organizational factors.

A survey was conducted based on a sample of 208 IT professionals. The data was collected using an instrument containing 17 questions. The existence of sector diversity was statistically analyzed using the Least Square Regression method.

The results indicate that, except for management support and perceived ease of use, all the other factors in the analysis significantly influence sector diversity in terms of blockchain adoption timing.

Although blockchain has received attention from researchers, to the best of the authors' knowledge, there is no published work in the literature that explores the organizational factors influencing sectoral differences in the timing of blockchain technology adoption. Therefore, our work is unique in the related literature since we present analyses for the diversity between public and private sectors by modeling the factors affecting the intentions for the timing of blockchain adoption as part of the organizations' IT infrastructure.

This paper aims to examine the relationship between religiosity based on the area with the number of self-employment in an area, i.e. city of Surakarta, Indonesia.

The researcher conducted a survey in 67 mosques in Surakarta, Indonesia, to capture religiosity level based on the area. Spearman correlation approach has been selected to investigate the relationship between religiosity and self-employment.

This study found that despite the female population being greater than male population in every district in Surakarta, on average, the number of female prayers were significantly less than male prayers either in Fajr or Maghrib prayer. In fact, the average number of Fajr prayers almost 50 per cent less than the average number of Maghrib prayers. Finally, the researcher found that the number of employees who work in the home industry is higher in the area that has a smaller gap on the number of Fajr and Maghrib prayers. Thus, the researcher might conclude that religiosity is positively associated with self-employment.

To best of researcher’s knowledge, this is the first study that investigates the relationship between religiosity level based on the area and self-employment. In addition, this study proposes a new methodology to measure Muslim’s religiosity. All in all, this study tries to untangle the conflicting evidence on the impact of religiosity on the self-employment.

The design of buildings for fire events is essential to ensure occupant safety. Supplementary to simple prescriptive methods, performance-based fire design can be applied to achieve a greater level of safety and flexibility in design. To make performance-based fire design more accessible, a time-equivalent method can be used to approximate a given natural fire event using a single standard fire with a specific duration. Doing so allows for natural fire events to be linked to the wealth of existing data from the standard fire scenario. The purpose of this paper is to review and assess the application of an existing time-equivalent method in the performance-based design of reinforced concrete (RC) beams.

The assessment is established by computationally developing the moment-curvature response of RC beam sections during fire exposure. The sectional response due to natural fire and time equivalent fire are compared.

It is shown that the examined time equivalent method is able to predict the sectional response with suitable accuracy for performance-based design purposes.

The research is the first to provide a comprehensive evaluation of the moment-curvature diagram of RC beams using time-equivalent standard fire scenarios that model realistic fire scenarios.

This paper aims to conceptualize the nexus between the participatory finance and the higher ethical objectives within the Islamic moral economy, also termed as Maqasid al Shari’ah.

Insights from the extant Islamic economics and finance literature are integrated through an interpretative systematic review using the principles from critical interpretative synthesis (CIS).

A coherent framework is synthesized comprising the typology of the Maqasid al Shari’ah, the axioms of participatory finance and their nexus which is formulated by theorizing the common thread of meaning through the axioms of participatory finance and Maqasid al Shari’ah at the interpretative level. This framework postulates that the participatory finance fits well in the ethos and the value system of Islam. Moreover, “social well-being” invariably provides the nexus between the Maqasid al Shari’ah and participatory finance.

This study contributes to the Islamic economics and finance literature by integrating the dissenting views from the divergent literature related to the basic philosophy of Shari’ah and participatory finance and provides grounds for policy implications, particularly, for designing the financial products. Moreover, it demonstrates an application of interpretative systematic review in Islamic banking and finance research.

The purpose of this paper is to review Lean Six Sigma (LSS) literature and report different definitions, demographics, methodologies and industries.

This paper highlights various definitions by different researchers and practitioners. A total of 235 research papers has been reviewed for the LSS theme, research methodology adopted, type of industry, author profile, country of research and year of publication.

From the review, four significant LSS classifications were identified that deal with the spread of LSS in different industries followed by observation for classification.

LSS is a strategy for success, but it did not examine its presence in various Industries. From this paper, readers can understand the quantum of its spread before implementing LSS. For academicians, it will be a comprehensive list of papers for research.

This paper reviews 235 research papers for their year, author profile, research methodology and type of industry. Various characteristics of LSS definitions and their theme are also reviewed.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the motivations and inhibitions linked to the entrepreneurial act in Tunisia, a country belonging to the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. The findings of such a study help to better understand why new graduates are reluctant to create their own firms in spite of the political efforts made by the government.

A qualitative approach is adopted. It is based on 38 semi-directive in-depth interviews conducted with new graduates in entrepreneurship, some of them being young entrepreneurs, and others who did not go through the entrepreneurial process. On the basis of the data collected, a thematic content analysis has been carried out.

A set of contextual and cultural factors has been highlighted by the analysis. When the context is characterised by poverty, mafia, corruption, or even by a popular revolution or a war in a neighbouring country, these factors may significantly affect new graduates’ decision to create their own firm. Besides, the entrepreneurial decision may be affected by cultural factors: the bureaucratic system, autocracy, and the existence of entrepreneurial milieus such as social class, region, and geographical regions.

The inductive qualitative approach adopted in a research study affects the generalisable character of the results. This study is also geographically limited to the great Tunis area (the capital and its suburbs).

This study has been carried out in a context of an emergent country from the MENA region. This special setting leads to the valorisation of an understudied set of contextual and cultural motivations and inhibitors of entrepreneurship.

This paper aims to examine the effects of interest-free and interest-based monetary policy on inflation and unemployment rates for two groups of countries where in one group, interest-free monetary policy (IFMP) was pursued, while in the other group, interest-based monetary policy (IBMP) was followed.

This study involves a sample of 23 developed countries divided into two groups. The authors measure economic performance by misery index (MI), and MI is calculated as unemployment rate plus inflation rate. A group of countries, where MI is lower, performs better compared to the other group where MI is relatively higher.

The results reveal that in group of 12 countries where IFMP is adopted, the MI is lower and thus performs better compared to a group of countries where IBMP is pursued.

The findings of this study have profound implications for the policymakers and government leaders who look for a solution to maintain both low inflation and unemployment rates. The findings in this study clearly portray that such ideal situations can only be achieved by pursuing IFMP. No wonder the countries which have been historically pursuing IFMP such as Japan, Switzerland, Sweden, the Netherlands and Denmark have been able to contain both inflation and unemployment rates compared to their counterparts among the English-speaking countries.

This is one of the most recent tests on the differences in economic performance between IFMP and IBMP. These results have significant value for policymakers and central bankers who have been struggling to maintain lower MI for decades.

Demonstrate proof-of-concept for conducting NFL Draft trades on a blockchain network using smart contracts.

Using Ethereum smart contracts, the authors model several types of draft trades between teams. An example scenario is used to demonstrate contract interaction and draft results.

The authors show the feasibility of conducting draft-day trades using smart contracts. The entire negotiation process, including side deals, can be conducted digitally.

Further work is required to incorporate the full-scale depth required to integrate the draft trading process into a decentralized user platform and experience.

Cutting time for the trade negotiation process buys decision time for team decision-makers. Gains are also made with accuracy and cost.

Full-scale adoption may find resistance due to the level of fan involvement; the draft has evolved into an interactive experience for both fans and teams.

This research demonstrates the new application of smart contracts in the inter-section of sports management and blockchain technology.

Roots of global Terrorism are in ‘failed’ states carved out of multiracial empires after World Wars I and II in name of ‘national self‐determination’. Both sides in the Cold War competed to exploit the process of disintegration with armed and covert interventions. In effect, they were colluding at the expense of the ‘liberated’ peoples. The ‘Vietnam Trauma’ prevented effective action against the resulting terrorist buildup and blowback until 9/11. As those vultures come home to roost, the war broadens to en vision overdue but coercive reforms to the postwar system of nation states, first in the Middle East. Mirages of Vietnam blur the vision; can the sole Superpower finish the job before fiscal and/or imperial overstretch implode it?