Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Islamic Capital'

This thesis makes a theoretical contribution to the design of the capital adequacy assessment framework for Islamic banks. The proposed capital regulation is aimed at enhancing the Islamic banks' operational sustainability. The first analytical section in the thesis discusses the nature of sharing contracts. The analysis helps to explain the current reluctance to use sharing contracts by the players in the Islamic banking system. Each individual will always try to optimise his utility, monetarily as well as religiously, as a form of compliance with religious rules. However, in an adverse condition, religious and risk-averse customers will compromise the two utility objectives (i.e. adopting hybrid types of contract that, to some extent, deliver his minimum required financial return besides also complying with religious norms). The second analytical section in the thesis discusses possible improvements to the capital regulation of Islamic banks. This includes the possibility of enhancing the fiduciary as well as the agency roles performed by the Islamic banks. The analysis produces a number of propositions. The first proposition is to require the banks to have prudent assets-liabilities (capital) structures and to have adequate financial cushions. The second proposition is to require the shareholders of Islamic banks to observe a minimum level of financial participation; and to require the banks to disclose crucial financial information to investors. Theoretically, the higher the level of financial participation and the higher the quality of information provided, the better the quality of the contract entered into by the banks and 'their customers. The last part of the discussion, embracing empirical analysis, shows the important role played by capital in absorbing temporary financial shocks (especially when debt-based deposits are dominant). The discussion also covers the possibility of using statistical techniques for assessing the soundness of Islamic banks' operational activities.

This dissertation assesses how Islamic finance fares as an example of 'civil compromise' in Islamic law. By focusing on the Islamic project finance sector, my research examines how the industry's main stakeholders (representing faith, capital, and power) cooperate and compete to bring about this compromise through the 'Game of Islamic Bank Bargains'. The Islamic finance industry is a work in progress, and while it has made some significant strides, it is still a niche in the global conventional financial order rather than an alternative to it. It has fallen short of fulfilling its originally-stated social justice aspirations, but has provided a previously unavailable form of banking and finance for Muslims to transact, at least formalistically, in accordance with widely-believed tenets of their faith. Thus, those who hold up Islamic finance as a universal panacea or dismiss it outright as a fraud have both got it wrong. It is neither. It is, rather, a complex myriad of incentives and aspirations of a multitude of stakeholders muddled together across numerous geographies and evolving incrementally and constantly. The state of the industry is the result of how the stakeholders (the shariah scholars, lawyers, bankers, government officials, and customers) have pursued their self-interest in the Game of Islamic Bank Bargains. My research examines who are the 'winners' and 'losers' of this game, and what religious, commercial, and political factors have influenced this outcome. I assess what may incentivise the incumbent 'winners' to guide the Islamic finance industry away from a formal and legalistic approach towards one that also incorporates principles from Islamic economics. I explore how the 'losers' - whose interests are not accounted for due to their lack of sufficient financial and political clout - can sway the outcome of the game in their favour.

Social capital research has traditionally been conducted in western and Christian settings as a precursor of changes such as democratization and development. This paper focuses on Islamic religious engagement and its potential to foster social capital. The model presented here is designed to suggest whether the Islam's influence occurs through doctrinal channels, or through Islam's capacity to organize social structures. The analysis conducted is a linear regression model with measures of social capital as dependent variables and measures of religious engagement as independent variables. The analysis is conducted on data from the fourth wave of the World Values Survey. Results suggest that religious engagement and social capital have both belief and behavioral elements that should be treated as separate entities in quantitative research.

This thesis provides a critique of the penology of capital punishment from the perspectives of Christianity and Islam. In order to ascertain the basic theological approaches of both religions towards capital punishment, Chapters 2 and 3 examine the core Scriptural texts, laws and traditions of both Christianity and Islam respectively. These chapters reveal how different methods of Scriptural interpretation and differences in religious practice, within each faith, have led to divergent opinions regarding the legitimacy and acceptability of capital punishment. Chapters 4 and 5 examine two of the primary penological justifications for the death penalty; retributivism and deterrence. It is demonstrated how they can be used, within secular and religious frameworks, to both condemn and condone the use of the punishment. Chapter 6 considers a variety of contemporary methods used to execute offenders and asks whether the methods used have any effect on the religious acceptance or rejection of the penalty. Finally, Chapter 7 presents one of the most controversial aspects of the contemporary death penalty debate, namely the unequal application of the penalty as it pertains particularly to black offenders, indigent offenders and mentally ill offenders. This serious criticism of the death penalty is considered first in general secular terms and then in light of the teachings of both religions and it is asked how the religious arguments in favour of the death penalty stand in light of such serious violations of human rights and justice. The thesis concludes with the assertion that, while a strong case can be made from within both religions for the use of capital punishment in principle, in practice given current practices of criminal justice systems worldwide there is a strong case to be made, if not for abolition, then at least for a drastic curtailment of the practice and a long-term moratorium on capital punishment on religious grounds.

Islamic finance is acquiring a growing respected place in the world financial system and its market share has been growing by more than 15 percent annually for the last ten years. Sukuk is the financial instrument which is considered to be the icon of the Islamic finance now. It is now one of the fastest growing financial instruments in the world. In this thesis, Sukuk and its original structures are defined and discussed. The features of each structure and their practicality are also highlighted. The main and most important contribution of this thesis is adiscussion and an analysis of the risk identification of Sukuk structure. The management of risk associated with Sukuk structure is also a matter of great importance. A qualitative research approach adopted with unstructured interviews with different experts both in the Islamic and traditional finance field from three different countries. Respondents observe that Islamic capital market is growing and it has established its identity in the world financial market. This bright picture of Sukuk success brings some major risks which are identified as, regulatory risk, Shariah compliance risk, liquidity risk, market risk, credit risk, risk related to underlying asset, third party risk. It is found that risk management practices are very weak at the moment and these risks are not currently well managed.These risks are more and complex and there are no well standardized and documented techniques which can be used to hedge these risks. Sukuk are exposed to these risks .Notmuch importance has been given to the risk management yet and the main focus remainson the issuance of Sukuk .It observe that without proper risk management of the Sukuk structure its success story will always remain under question.

In recent years, the knowledge management literature has exhibited relatively few new empirical contributions, in contrast to the flurry of such work in the ethical financial sector. The purpose of this research study was three fold. The primary objective was to examine, to what extent, Intellectual Capital (hereafter referred to as IC) and Corporate Governance (hereafter referred to as CG) features affected the performance (both accounting-and market-based) of 64 Islamic Financial Institutions (hereafter referred to as IFIs) operating in ten different geographical locations for the period 2007-2011, while controlling for firm-specific characteristics. The second objective was to analyse the effects of IC and CG features on the performance of the sampled IFIs before and after the financial crisis. Finally, the research aimed to explore the effects of IC, CG and firm-specific characteristics on the performance of fully-fledged Islamic banks (hereafter referred to as FFIBs) and Islamic Shariah-windows (hereafter referred to as Windows). The study used the quantitative research method in which secondary data, comprising of the annual/financial statements of the selected IFIs, was used to extract data. The population of this study was IFIs both FFIBs and Windows operating worldwide. This study’s sample of IFIs was selected based on the Bankscope database while data, related to the governance-specific variables such as board-size, non-executive directors, role duality, Shariah supervisory board, and size of the audit committee, was collected by hand using the annual reports of each IFI. Value Added Intellectual Coefficient (hereafter referred to as VAIC) was used as a methodological tool to analyse the data. The following are the key findings of the research. Firstly, IC was associated positively with the sampled IFIs’ accounting and market-based performance. Secondly, IC was associated with positively with the sampled IFIs’ accounting and market-based performance at all times i.e. in the pre- and post-crisis periods. Hence, IC was the main defence line for the sampled IFIs. Thirdly, the classical model of CG did not seem to explain the sampled IFIs’ performance. Finally, this study reports that the Islamic finance industry is not homogeneous since not all the financial institutions offering Shariah compliant products are FFIBs. They can be divided further into FFIBs and Windows, in which FFIBs have relatively stronger market valuation as compared to Windows. This study makes a contribution to the existing literature on IC, precisely to IC performance literature, by providing the evidence about the role of IC in determining the performance of the ethical banking model. Equally, this study contributes to the literature on Islamic banking and finance as well as the performance of IFIs by measuring the effects of intangible resources on performance. Likewise, the study contributes to the literature on IC and corporate governance by combining both concepts in one study. Another contribution of this study is that it considered IC and CG performance in the pre- and post-financial crisis periods; this provides a novel insight into the role knowledge resources i.e. IC in times of financial meltdown. Finally, it points out that the Islamic finance industry is not homogeneous as such since not all IFIs are FFIBs. Instead, there exists a distinction within the industry. Besides the contribution to the literature, this research is of interest to policy makers and, on a practical level, Islamic banking and finance regulators may use the insights, provided by this study, as a basis for further discussion in determining the role of IC and CG-features in a Shariah-complaint banking model. Rating agencies may use this information when evaluating the real value of an IFI. Likewise, IFIs can use this information to identify and have a better understanding of their competitive advantage in the market. Finally, investors may consider this information while making their investment decisions. The study was not free from constraints and limitations. The main limitation lay in its methodological tool (Value Added Intellectual Coefficient, VAIC) for measuring IC. The VAIC model was challenged by many studies (see Chang, 2007; Ståhle et al., 2011). Nonetheless, there exists no single method of measuring IC. The VAIC method uses quantitative data and, therefore, the use of VAIC is justified because this study used secondary data and, hence, was quantitative in nature. Arguably, this was reliable and validated since it was drawn from the audited data disclosed in the annual reports/financial statements of the selected IFIs. The study offers a novel insight into the ethical banking business model and draws attention to the increasingly important role that knowledge resources i.e. IC play in it. The study calls for a radical departure from the existing orthodox CG model, particularly for cohesive organisations such as Islamic banks, which are based on trust.

The development of human capital often faces challenges due to skills gaps in the labour market and this is exacerbated by the distinctive differences between the skills gained through education and those required by the private sector. Such imbalances challenge the success of the Emiratisation policy and therefore the intention of the government in creating a knowledge economy. The financial sector has a complex operating environment compared to other sectors because of the financial regulations and operational processes. This creates challenges in terms of having the right people in the right job, as well as complying with the Emiratisation policy. Human capital in Islamic financial services may stall the growth of the sector, due to the fact that there is a lack of essential training programmes, entry requirement and retention in this sector due to management and cultural differences, a lack of support and encouragement, absence of career progression or personal development, unrealistic expectations, competition and confidence issues and lack of teamwork for new entrants as well as senior managers. Consequently, understanding the factors influencing the challenges of Emiratisation will help improve the human resource development practices of senior Emirati managers working in Islamic banks. Therefore, this study develops a framework for human capital capacity building in Islamic banks in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in order to counteract the challenges of Emiratisation and improve the human resource development practices of senior Emirati managers working in Islamic banking. In the process, the study adopts the Spellerberg (2001) model from which attitude and behaviour can be taken into account given the interdependent relationship that exists between human and social capital. In responding to the aims of this study, a questionnaire was undertaken with seven Islamic banks in UAE. A total of 182 responses were received. Also, secondary analysis research was conducted to explore current best practice used in the international banking sector in regards to developing human capital. The statistical results reveal (eight) variables that significantly impact the use of human capital for Islamic banking in the UAE: (a) trust and reciprocity; (b) networking; (c) wasta; (d) attitude and behaviour; (e) uncertainty avoidance; (f) years of service in conventional bank; (g) Islamic values; networking; and (h) individual/collectivist. The findings indicated that investing in human capital and augmenting it along the way is highly important. Hence, organisations could be the trigger that generates knowledge through individuals who are part of the said organisations, which results in enhancing organisational performance and develops social capital as well. It also shows that cultural and social issues have a great impact on organisations and individuals’ attitude and behaviour. Further, it highlights that the principles of Islam influence human capital and social capital development owing to the fact that it shapes individuals and organisations perceptions, feelings and acts towards others. The study has significant implications for banks in the UAE in providing a direction for human capital building in Islamic banking. The framework developed in this study is a major contribution to current theories and practices in the field of human capital and social capital which demonstrate the Emiratisation policy challenges within the financial sector, as well as how cultural and social issues impact on organisations and employee performance in banks.

This dissertation analyses the industrial transformation of Turkey by focusing on the history of Kayseri&rsquo
s small town Hacilar which has been showed an extraordinary performance in industry and economic development in the last 40 years. However, it is not a general history of industrialization
but a local development story from a traditional rural/ village community to an industrial production zone in relation with the local, national and universal dynamics. In line with the historical materialist conceptual and epistemological frame and against the &ldquo
Calvinist Islam&rdquo
kind theological arguments, this study explains the historical, regional, geographical, economic, social, and cultural reasons and factors of the industrial development of Hacilar in the context of the general industrial history of Turkey.

This thesis aims to explore and investigate the state of current investment appraisal practices within Libyan firms. In particular, the thesis attempts to answer four research questions: (1) How do Libyan firms appraise capital investments? (2) Do Libyan firms incorporate risk into their capital investment appraisal processes? (3) Do Libyan firms face capital rationing and, if so, is it externally or internally imposed? and (4) Does the availability of Islamic Finance affect Libyan firms' view of the capital investment appraisal process? This study is based on a qualitative empirical approach, with a subjectivist orientation but a main concern with the sociology of regulation; the interpretive paradigm is employed in this thesis. Rather than simply providing a simple description of the phenomena under investigation, the aim of this thesis is to interpret and understand the issues surrounding the problem being considered. Thus, this study seeks to establish a better understanding about the nature of the capital investment appraisal process in Libyan corporations, and how it differs across Libyan economic sectors. In order to provide evidence and contribute to our knowledge about this topic, two research methods, both compatible with the interpretive paradigm and consistent with the methodology and the researcher’s beliefs about the topic under investigation, are employed. The research methods used are: (i) a semi-structured interviews; then (ii) a questionnaire survey based upon the literature review and on the key results from (i). For the former, 20 interviews were conducted, involving two groups: firm-based interviewees (‘insiders’ working in firms) in five economic sectors with different size and ownership structures and ‘outsider’ interviewees (bankers, academics and chartered accountants). In the second phase, 45 questionnaires were collected from firms which operate in five economic sectors, again with various size and ownership patterns. The main findings indicate that non-financial criteria (e.g. political priorities, State development plan and personal experience) play a more important role than financial factors. While Libyan companies use multiple techniques to appraise capital investments, usage of discounted cash flow techniques (DCF), although increasing is not yet as high as in developed nations, with payback remaining the most popular. The evidence shows that the source of the funding (followed by project size and nature of the project, respectively) also plays a role in choosing the appraisal techniques. Typically, the process of capital investment appraisal in Libya appears to have five stages (determination of budget, research and development, evaluation, authorisation, and monitoring and controlling). Libyan firms consider the first of these as the most important stage. The majority of the respondents employ a post-audit phase of two years or less; about half the sampled firms conduct the post-audit by comparing the actual performance with the feasibility study on which the project was based. The companies consider real options when looking at flexibility, but they have no effect on the choice of the appraisal techniques or the process generally. Similarly, there are no changes in the techniques or the process when advanced manufacturing technology investments are considered. Regarding risk evaluation, this is mostly subjective although scenario analysis and sensitivity analysis are employed to some extent. Around 50% of the firms calculate the cost of capital, but most of these firms do so subjectively (e.g. via interest rate observations), while the rest use CAPM to calculate the cost of capital. Fewer than one in ten of the firms that calculate the cost of capital employ project-specific rates. The majority of the companies noted their experience of capital rationing, mostly of the external variety (primarily reflecting State actions). The majority of the firms claimed to be considering the Libyan Stock Market as source of funding, but not in the near future, essentially because of a lack of knowledge among Libyan companies about its functioning. The findings suggest that use of Islamic finance is not yet common among Libyan firms. However, two thirds of the firms suggested that they would use Islamic financial products to finance their future projects for several reasons; mainly religion, to avoid paying interest or demurrage, plus risk sharing though the use of Islamic financial products such as Musharakah. Those firms, which did not view Islamic finance positively, mentioned the incompatibility of the current products with Islamic Shariah law, suggesting that in reality they are just traditional financial products with Islamic names. Some notable differences between theory and practice emerged in this research. For instance, certain non-financial criteria (e.g. political priorities) were more important than financial factors. Relatedly, there was evidence of external interested parties such as academics seeing practice and ideals differently. This type of finding suggests a key contribution of this study as highlighting the need for contextual specificities to be carefully considered when investigating an issue as (theoretically) straightforward as investment decision-making in practice.

L'objectif de notre thèse est d'étudier les différences qui existent entre les banques islamiques et les banques conventionnelles en termes de structure de capital, de profitabilité et de profil de risque. Les principes qui régissent un système financier islamique sont différents de l'esprit de la finance conventionnelle. Si en finance conventionnelle, la norme qui préside les décisions d'un agent économique est l'optimisation du couple rendement-risque, cette norme n'est pas l'unique ni le principal critère de décision dans l'univers de la finance islamique. L'interdiction des taux d'intérêt et l'exigence d'une certaine éthique dans les transactions financières islamiques (exigence de transparence, partage équitable des profits, interdiction de la spéculation et prise de risque excessive, etc.) représentent les principes fondamentaux de la finance islamique. Nous avons fait émerger un cadre conceptuel nous permettant de comprendre la structure de capital et la profitabilité des banques islamique islamiques grâce à une revue de littérature théorique et empirique. Les théories mobilisées sont liées, d'une part aux théories de structure de capital notamment la théorie de tarde off, la théorie de Pecking Order et la théorie d'agence, d'autres part les théories liées à la profitabilité, notamment les théories de marché et de portefeuille. Les modèles économétriques (la régression logistique binaire, l'analyse discriminante et les modèles de régression sur données de panel) montrent l'existence des différences au niveau de structure du capital et de profitabilité entre les banques islamiques et les banques conventionnelles. Ces différences sont expliquées par les déterminants classiques révélés par la littérature financière. En plus, elles sont déterminées par les caractéristiques propres aux banques islamiques. Notre thèse avait pour objectif également d'identifier un nouveau risque propre aux banques islamiques, le risque commercial déplacé. Ce risque résulte de la gestion des comptes de nature unique, les comptes d'investissement participatifs. Il se manifeste lorsqu'une banque islamique n'assure pas une rentabilité suffisante aux détenteurs de ces comptes. Le modèle interne que nous avons proposé pour la quantification de ce risque, est basé sur la mesure VaR. Il repose sur les pratiques de la banque islamique en termes de rétention de réserves et de partage de profits avec les titulaires des comptes d'investissement. Notre modèle représente une alternatif à la mesure du risque commercial déplacé, à caractère arbitraire et forfaitaire proposé par l'IFSB (2005)
The objective of this thesis is to study differences between Islamic and conventional banks. The principles governing an islamic financial system are different from the spirit of conventional finance. If in conventional finance, the standard that preside decisions is the optimization of the risk-return couple, this standard is neither the only nor the main decision criterion in the world of Islamic finance. The fundamental principles of Islamic finance are the prohibition of interest and the requirement of a certain ethic (transparency, fair distribution of profits, prohibition of speculation and excessive risk taking, etc.) in financial transactions. These features impact significantly the capital structure, profitability and risk profile of Islamic banks. We made the emergence of a conceptual framework that allows us to understand the capital structure and profitability of Islamic banks, with a review of theoretical and empirical literature. Theories mobilized are related, first to the theories of capital structure including the theory of trade off, the Pecking Order theory and agency theory, and second on the other theories related to profitability, including the theories of market portofolio. Econometric models (binary logistic regression, discriminant analysis and multiple linear regression) show that there are differences in capital structure and profitability between Islamic banks and conventional. These differences are explained by traditional determinants of capital structure and profitability. In addition, they are explained by the specific characteristics of Islamic banks such as the new agency relationships that are created in an Islamic bank. Islamic banks are exposed to displaced commercial risk, a specific risk in these institutions. This risk results from the Profit sharing investment accounts PSIA and occurs when Islamic bank does not provide sufficient returns to PSIA holders. The internal model proposed to quantify this risk is based on the VaR measure. The proposed measure of risk depends on the practices of Islamic banking in terms of retention of reserves and profit sharing with PSIA holders

Devenue en l'espace d'une trentaine d'années un segment à part entière de la finance internationale, la finance islamique trouve désormais tout son sens dans l'économie contemporaine. La crise de 2008 et ses conséquences dramatiques sur le tissu économique et entrepreneurial ont donné un attrait aux financements islamiques et notamment aux opérations de capital risque. Apparu au début des années 2000, le capital risque islamique consiste à prendre des participations au capital de sociétés non cotées considérées comme conformes à l'éthique musulmane afin de financer leur création et leur démarrage. Dans cette opération, il existe un lien incontestable entre l'éthique religieuse et la notion d’investissement. Si les prescriptions du droit musulman garantissent un équilibre entre les partenaires financiers, elles soumettent néanmoins l’investisseur à certaines contraintes. La structuration d'une opération financière islamique commande en effet le respect de certains principes d'essence religieuse tels que la prohibition de la spéculation, l'aléa et toute forme de rémunération par l'intérêt. Se pose alors la question de l'acculturation de ce modèle dans la finance française. En ce sens, l'hypothèse principale de cette recherche vise à analyser l'adaptabilité du capital risque islamique en vue de sa structuration dans le cadre juridique français. A travers une analyse approfondie des exigences de la loi islamique et du cadre de la gestion collective en France, la présente étude met en perspective les structures juridiques permettant d'atteindre la flexibilité requise pour mettre en œuvre une opération de capital risque islamique en droit français. Outre les enjeux économiques qui sont attachés à la réception d'une activité à haute valeur ajoutée, la modélisation d'un « capital risque islamique à la française » pourrait renforcer l'attractivité de la place de Paris en permettant l'inclusion d'une catégorie d'entrepreneurs et d'investisseurs à la recherche d'une alternative plus éthique et solidaire pour le financement d'entreprise
In the space of 30 years, Islamic finance has become a full segment of international finance and has proved its value in the contemporary economy. The 2008 crisis and its dramatic consequences on the economic and business fabric raised attractiveness of Islamic finance transactions, in particular venture capital. The latter was created in the early 2000’s and consists in taking equity participations in unlisted companies that are considered compliant with Islamic ethics to finance their creation and startup. Thus, religious ethics and investment are indisputably linked. If the Islamic law requires ensuring a balance between financial partners, the investor is nevertheless subject to certain constraints. Indeed, the legal structuring of Islamic financial transactions obliges compliance with certain religious principles such as prohibition of speculation, hazard and any form of remuneration by interest. This raises the question of the acculturation of this model within the French finance. To this end, the main hypothesis of this research aims to analyze the adaptability of Islamic venture capital in view of its implementation in the French legal framework. Through in-depth analysis of the requirements of Islamic law and the framework of collective management in France, this study puts into perspective the legal structures that could provide the flexibility required to implement an Islamic venture capital transaction into French law. In addition to the economic benefits attached to the receipt of an activity with high added value, modeling a "French Islamic venture capital" could increase the attractiveness of the financial place of Paris by allowing the inclusion of a class of entrepreneurs and investors looking for ethical and cooperative alternatives for corporate finance

In terms of profit maximization, being efficient, is one of the key concerns of banks, the regulators are more concerned with setting the most appropriate policies and standards to optimize their role in achieving financial stability in the market. More precisely, capital adequacy standards are among the top priorities of the regulators in the banking sector. In addition, due to the unique nature of Islamic financial principles, the Islamic banks face different challenges when it comes to capital requirements and bank efficiency related issues compared to conventional banks. Therefore, this research aims to examine capital adequacy requirements and measure the key factors that may have an impact. Furthermore, this research assesses the impact of the capital adequacy requirements on the efficiency of Islamic and conventional banks in the case of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region. Following the existing literature related to banking, this study developed two regression models; the first one was applied to examine the determinants of the capital adequacy ratio. The Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) was used to investigate the level of efficiency, and then, the second regression model was used to examine the relationship between the capital adequacy ratio and the efficiency of the banks. The examined data are obtained from 50 banks, 25 Islamic banks and 25 conventional banks, in the GCC countries over the period between 2006 and 2015. The overall results are consistent with most of the developed hypotheses indicating that liquidity has a significant negative effect on the capital adequacy of Islamic and conventional banks. The results also confirmed that credit risk has a significant positive effect on the capital adequacy of Islamic and conventional banks. Furthermore, the results confirmed that bank profitability has a significant positive effect on the capital adequacy of Islamic and conventional banks together. Net interest income remains an insignificant association with the capital adequacy requirements of the examined banks. The results confirmed that management quality stays in a positive significant association with capital adequacy requirements in the case of both Islamic and conventional banks in the GCC region over the period between 2006 and 2015. Based on the results delivered through the DEA method, the empirical results reveal that the efficiency of Islamic banks are less efficient than conventional banks in the GCC region. Such results could be due to the unique nature of the Islamic financial principles that impose more complexity to the Islamic financial products and operations that in turn leads to lower efficiency compared to the conventional banks. The empirical results, consistent with the developed hypothesis, reveal that the capital adequacy negatively affects the banks efficiency of the examined GCC banks. However, the results show that such effect is lower in the case of the Islamic banks compared to the conventional banks. The obtained result could be due to financial operations that are based on Islamic financial principles.

This study attempts to clarify the role of religious values in the rise of new pious Muslim entrepreneurs in Turkey, based on field study carried out in Kayseri from 1980 to the present. It particularly attempts to account for the influence of religion on the work ethic of these entrepreneurs, popularly known as "Anatolian Tigers." To achieve the goals of this research, in-depth interviews were held with thirty Turkish business people from both religious and secular backgrounds. The qualitative data was interpreted by using a discourse analysis technique. In this research, special attention is given to the evolving power balance between the secular elite and the new pious economic class, which replaces to some extent the earlier polarization between the republican elites and the people. The new pious economic elite is following a path of modernity by directly addressing needs that have been ignored by the secular republican project and its elites. The case of Turkey indicates that Westernization is not the only possible path to modernity. This new development, if indeed it continues, may prove to be one of the most important transformations determining the future of Turkey. The study also seeks to analyze the compatibility of the work ethic of pious entrepreneurs with capitalism in the case of Kayseri. This work will illustrate the impact of local heritage and religious values on modern economic activity.
Cette étude vise à clarifier le rôle des valeurs religieux dans l'essor de nouveaux entrepreneurs pieux en Turquie, fondé sur une enquête sur le terrain menée à Kayseri (1980- Présent). Elle essaie en particulier à expliquer l'influence de la religion sur la morale de travail chez ces entrepreneurs, connus sous le nom de «tigres anatoliens». Pour atteindre les buts de ce travail, des entrevues approfondis étaient tenus avec une trentaine de dirigeants d'entreprises turques de formations variées. Les données qualitatives ont été interprétées en utilisant la technique de l'analyse de discours. Dans cette recherche, une attention particulière est prêtée à l'équilibre de pouvoir évoluant entre l'élite laïque et la nouvelle classe moyenne religieuse, ce qui remplace dans une certaine mesure la polarisation antérieure entre les élites républicaines et peuple. La nouvelle classe moyenne pieuse s'engage à bâtir son propre chemin à la modernité en affrontant les besoins non reconnus par le projet républicain séculaire et ses élites. Le cas de la Turquie révèle que l'occidentalisation ne constitue pas le seul chemin vers la modernité. Ce nouveau développement, s'il continue, sera parmi les plus importantes transformations à déterminer le futur du pays. L'étude cherche aussi à analyser la compatibilité entre le moral de travail chez les entrepreneurs pieux et le capitalisme dans le cas de Kayseri. Ce travail va illustrer l'impact de l'héritage local et les valeurs religieuses sur l'activité économique.

Investor protection is the essence of Islamic banking and capital markets. Shariah aims to promote fairness in the exchange mechanism, prohibit abuse, exploitation and harm, protect investors and safeguard public interest. The purpose of this thesis is to explore and compare Shariah's principles for investor protection from market abuse with the rationales and theories of prohibition underpinning the UK and US legal market abuse framework in securities markets. Shariah takes a completely different and a very comprehensive approach in combating market abuse. It takes a two pronged approach. Firstly, it propounds compliance and incorporation of ethical principles, Quranic proscription, and Prophetic commandments in the legal framework which prohibit market abuse before it occurs. Secondly, its unique contractual structures facilitate fair exchange. The product innovation incorporates ancient contractual structures as building blocks with inbuilt safety features to curb abusive speculation, manipulation and distortion in the price formation mechanisms. These principles and contractual structures successfully safeguarded the interest of participants in one to one transactions in barter based ancient markets in Mecca and Medina. The thesis analyses the validity of the aforementioned approach in regulating market abuse in impersonal trading in the context of emerging technologically advanced Shariah compliant stock exchanges. It also explores how Shariah's approach facilitates the smooth interplay of market forces and uninterrupted natural equilibrium devoid of exploitation and harm. In the light of the antiquity of Shariah's ethical principles and contractual structures and the modern securities markets offering a sophisticated electronic trading platform, it presents a particularly challenging task to put together a coherent theoretical Shariah based market abuse framework for the smooth operation of advanced equity, debt and derivative products. The thesis also comprehensively analyses the speculative nature of modern equity, debt and derivative products and illustrates how, in contrast, long standing Shariah compliant contractual structures provide inbuilt safety features to reduce the potential for volatility and distortion in the price formation mechanism. It further highlights non-Islamic features and practices in the conventional spot, forward and futures markets and illustrates their susceptibility to facilitate abusive and excessive speculation, distortion and manipulation. Based on the comparative analysis of the rationales of UK and US market abuse regimes and Shariah principles, the thesis concludes by highlighting common ethical approaches, divergences and how Shariah based market abuse approach could be used to improve the integrity and stability of the UK and US securities Market.

Conventional banking and finance is based on interest-bearing loans or investments, or equity financing arrangements. Islamic banking and finance provides equivalent functionality to conventional finance except that the underlying arrangement is based on the trading of assets, profit and loss sharing investments or leasing arrangements. International business and trade has evolved over time and contemporary transactions and methods of providing cross-border funding has undoubtedly become more fluid and complex in this regard. So much so that non-traditional sources of financing have become more prominent as a viable alternative where we have seen a considerable increase in their use. This is evident with the steady growth and expansion of Islamic finance within the wider umbrella of the ‘Islamic Economy’. Importantly, multi-national enterprises are indeed open to diversifying their funding. This is however complimentary to the primary demand for these services from a growing global Muslim population. Article 11 governs the taxation of cross-border debt financing where the focus is in essence on the taxing rights allocated between the source and resident state respectively. In practice it appears to be a rather settled article where very few meaningful amendments have been made since its inception. The formulation and policy is based on historical factors and an agreed upon balance established at that time. With the introduction of non-traditional financial arrangement such as Islamic finance, we now perhaps see this historical balance being somewhat disturbed. It is important to note that it is an express purpose of international tax treaties to facilitate cross-border trade and ensure the economic exchanges are as seamless as possible in respect of taxation matters. Whether the incorporation of non-traditional financial instruments in article 11 could indeed reduce the risk of double taxation or double-non taxation remains to be seen, and it is not the objective of this paper to speculate on these aspects. Rather, this dissertation seeks to analyse the position of Islamic finance with regards to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development “OECD” Model Tax Convention and whether uncertainty is created under article 11 and a ‘debt-claim’.

This study is about the so called Islamic States’ use of Islamic religious traditions in their propaganda magazine Dabiq. The purpose of the study is to find out how ISIS use history as a blueprint to perceive and interpret current events and occurrences. The theories of sociologist Pierre Bourdieu, Capital, and sociopsychologist Hjalmar Sundén’s Role theory is used to analyze how the different religious traditions and stories are used by ISIS and what these represent in the Muslim’s religious frame of perception. The results of this study show that the religious traditions are being used in order to legitimize, justify and establish their so-called Caliphate according to the stories of old. The results also show that not only religious matters are used to emphasize their claim in the Middle East but profane examples as well.

Depuis le milieu des années 90, les indices et les fonds d‘investissement islamiques ont fait l‘objet de plusieurs études académiques. Cependant, les résultats divergent quant à leur surperformance ou leur sous-Performance. L‘objectif de notre thèse est d‘étudier les enjeux et la performance de cette catégorie d‘indices et de fonds. En ce qui concerne les indices, notre étude porte sur un échantillon de 57 couples d‘indices islamiques et de leurs benchmarks conventionnels. Nous étudions d‘abord les similitudes et les différences entre les deux catégories d‘indices. Puis, nous réalisons une revue de littérature classique accompagnée d‘une méta-Analyse. Ensuite, nous analysons l‘efficience et le potentiel de diversification de ces indices. Après, nous comparons les indices en termes de rentabilité, de risque et de performance. Nous utilisons également plusieurs mesures de performance afin de classer les indices islamiques. Enfin, nous étudions la persistance de la performance en ayant recours au modèle à quatre facteurs. Nos résultats montrent que malgré leur manque de diversification, les indices boursiers islamiques ont, en moyenne, le même degré d‘inefficience et le même niveau de performance que leurs homologues conventionnels. Quant aux fonds d‘investissement islamiques, nous étudions un échantillon de 111 fonds equity sur la période allant d‘avril 2005 à mars 2011. Nous utilisons plusieurs mesures de performance et des tests non paramétriques de la persistance entre trois sous-Périodes équivalentes. Nous trouvons une hétérogénéité en matière de performance de ces fonds et une absence de persistance pendant et après la dernière crise financière
Since the mid-Nineties, Islamic mutual funds and indices have received a significant level of academic scrutiny. However, the debate over their under-Performance or over-Performance is not over yet. The prime objective of our study is to explore the stakes, the performance and the persistence in performance of this category of indices and funds. As for indices, the study used a sample of 57 Islamic indices and their conventional benchmarks. It is carried out through a) studying the similarities and differences between Islamic and conventional indices; b) surveying the current literature by performing both narrative and meta-Analytical review of the literature, c) studying the efficiency and their potential for diversification; d) comparing the return, the risk and the performance of Islamic indices with their conventional counterparts, e) ranking Islamic indices using various performance measures; and f) studying the persistence using the four-Factor pricing model. Despite their lack of diversification, the study finds that Islamic indices have, in average, the same level of inefficiency and performance as their conventional counterparts. As for funds, the study used a sample of 111 Islamic equity funds over the period April 2005 to March 2011 and carried out through applying different performance measures and non-Parametric tests of performance persistence over three equal sub-Periods. The study finds much heterogeneity in Islamic funds‘ performance and a little evidence that supports non-Persistence in performance of Islamic mutual funds during and after the last financial crisis

Cette thèse met en lumière trois questions importantes au regard des banques Islamiques. Dans le premier chapitre, nous examinons l'impact de la concurrence sur les différences de fixation des taux de dépôt dans les banques Islamiques et conventionnelles. Nous montrons qu'il existe des différences notables dans les déterminants des taux de dépôt dans les deux types d'institutions. La concurrence du marché a un impact significatif sur le taux de dépôt des banques conventionnelles mais pas des banques Islamiques. Notre résultat, en général, suggère que bien que le dépôt des banques Islamiques semble être similaire à celui des banques conventionnelles, leurs déterminants sont différents. Dans le deuxième chapitre, nous poursuivons nos enquêtes en examinant la question de la concurrence et de la stabilité. La concurrence entre banques Islamiques et conventionnelles augmente-t-elle la stabilité ou la fragilité des banques ? Notre principale constatation suggère que le marché concurrentiel des deux banques n'est pas bénéfique pour la stabilité des banques. Conformément au résultat du premier chapitre, lors de la prochaine enquête, la concurrence sur deux marchés ne concerne que les banques conventionnelles. Dans le troisième chapitre de cette dissertation, nous analysons le rôle du Conseil de surveillance de la Charia sur le financement par capitaux propres des banques. Notre résultat montre que le financement par capitaux propres des banques Islamiques est influencé par certaines caractéristiques de la Conseil de surveillance de la Charia. La présence d'un membre de la Conseil de surveillance de la Charia au Conseil d'administration ou d'un membre de l'exécutif a un impact positif sur le financement par actions tandis que l'existence d'un département de la Charia dans les banques Islamiques diminue la proportion de financement par capitaux propres
This dissertation highlights three important issues in Islamic banks. In the first chapter, we investigate the impact of dual market competition on the differences in deposit rate setting in Islamic and conventional banks. We show that there are notable differences in the determinants of deposit rates in the two types of institution. Market competition has a significant impact on deposit rate of conventional banks but not Islamic banks. Our result, in general, suggests that although Islamic banks’ deposit seems to be similar than conventional banks, their determinants are different. In the second chapter, we continue our investigations by looking at the competition-stability issue. Does competition between Islamic and conventional banks increase banks’ stability or fragility? Our main finding suggests that competitive dual banking market is not beneficial for banks’ stability. In line with the result from the first chapter, in the next investigation, dual market competition only matters for conventional banks. In the third chapter of this dissertation, we analyze the role of Shariah Supervisory Board (SSB) on banks’ equity financing. Our result shows that Islamic banks’ equity financing is influenced by some characteristics of SSB. The presence of SSB member in the Board of Directors (BOD) or executive member has a positive impact on equity financing whereas the existence of a Shariah department in Islamic banks decreases the proportion of equity financing

The thesis analyzes macro-economic determinants and roles of financial sector development.

The literature argues that the size and efficiency of both banking systems and financial markets - the two major components of a financial system - matter for economic development. In the same vein, the quality of financial institutions and regulations are instrumental in the construction of a strong financial system.

We study several aspects of financial sector development in relation to three recent phenomena, namely, the rise of Islamic banking and finance, the increasing interest for emerging stock markets, and the growing remittance flows.

This thesis is made up of three essays.

The first essay extends the literature on the determinants of financial sector development, from the angle of culture. We show that, on average, Islamic finance favors the development of the banking sector in Muslim countries. We provide evidence that several countries have indeed been successful in launching a new, Shariah-compliant, banking system, while not harming the existing, conventional, banking sector. Our empirical analysis uses a newly-constructed original database on the size and performance of Islamic deposit banks globally over the period 2000 to 2005.

The second essay focuses on stock markets, in particular, the less-studied emerging equity markets. We confirm traditional literature findings on unconditional stock returns, over a panel of 53 Major and Frontier markets. Mainly, volatility is high, big surprises happen, and return correlations with the rest of the world are low but have been rising over the last decades. In spite of large differences in market size and liquidity, Frontier market returns are qualitatively similar to Major markets', except correlations, which are lower in Frontier markets. At current correlation levels, the latter continue to bring substantial diversification benefits to international investors.

The last essay examines the relationship between remittances and economic growth. It confirms that remittances are important for developing countries as they stimulate domestic investment. It then demonstrates, theoretically and empirically, that improving the access to bank deposit accounts is crucial to channel remittances to more productive uses. This is even more true when the access to international borrowing is costly.

The 2008-2009 financial crisis has propelled the improvement of financial systems to the top of policymakers' agendas. Our work contributes to a better understanding of the importance of finance in economic outcomes. It also brings a novel perspective on the determinants of financial systems./

Notre thèse a pour objet l'étude des déterminants et des rôles macro-économiques des secteurs financiers dans le monde.

Selon la littérature scientifique, la taille et l'efficacité des systèmes bancaires et des marchés financiers - les deux composantes principales d'un système financier - sont importantes pour le développement économique. Il apparaît également que la qualité des institutions et des régulations financières contribuent à la création d'un système financier fort.

Au travers de trois essais, nous examinons plusieurs aspects du développement du secteur financier, qui sont en relation avec trois phénomènes récents; à savoir: la croissance de la finance islamique, l'intérêt grandissant pour les marchés boursiers émergents, et l'augmentation des flux de transferts de fonds des migrants.

Dans le premier essai, nous nous intéressons aux facteurs culturels comme déterminants des secteurs financiers et, en particulier, au rôle de la religion musulmane. Nous montrons que, en moyenne, la finance islamique favorise le développement du secteur bancaire dans les pays musulmans. Plusieurs pays ont en effet réussi à développer un nouveau secteur bancaire compatible avec la Shariah, sans porter ombrage au secteur bancaire non islamique avec lequel il co-existe. Notre analyse empirique est fondée sur une base de données nouvelle et originale. Celle-ci a pour intérêt de fournir des indicateurs de taille et de performance des banques islamiques de dépôt dans le monde, pour la période 2000-2005.

Dans le deuxième essai, nous explorons les rendements inconditionnels obtenus sur les marchés boursiers, en particulier les marchés émergents d'actions. Notre analyse d'un large panel de 53 marchés émergents "Majeurs" et "Frontières" confirme les résultats traditionnellement observés dans la littérature. Ainsi, pour l'essentiel, les deux types de marchés sont volatils et émaillés d'événements extrêmes. De plus, les rendements des marchés émergents sont faiblements corrélés avec ceux du reste du monde, même si ces corrélations ont augmenté au cours des derniers décennies. Malgré d'importantes différences en terme de taille et de liquidité, les rendements sur marchés "Frontières" sont qualitativement similaires à ceux des marchés "Majeurs", à l'exception des corrélations. Ces dernières sont en effet actuellement plus faibles dans les marchés "Frontières", qui continuent dès lors à offrir d'importants bénéfices de diversification aux investisseurs internationaux.

Dans le dernier essai, nous examinons la relation entre les transferts d'argent des migrants et la croissance économique. Nous confirmons l'idée que les transferts de fonds des migrants sont importants pour les pays en voie de développement. Mais surtout, nous démontrons, de manière théorique et empirique, qu'il est crucial de faciliter dans ces pays l'accès aux comptes de dépôt bancaires, afin de transformer une plus grande part des transferts des migrants en investissements productifs. Ceci est d'autant plus vrai quand l'accès aux autres sources de capitaux internationaux est coûteux.

En conclusion, la crise financière de 2008-2009 a fait de l'amélioration des systèmes financiers la priorité de nombreuses politiques économiques. Dans cette perspective, notre travail apporte une contribution à une compréhension plus fine de l'importance de la finance pour l'économie, ainsi qu'une vision novatrice des déterminants des systèmes financiers.
Doctorat en Sciences économiques et de gestion
info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

The main purpose of this thesis is to critically analyse the convergence of political Islam and neoliberalism in Turkey. By doing so, the research aims to construct a Gramscian historical materialist account as opposed to the mainstream centre-periphery relations approach. The mainstream centre-periphery relations approach takes the state and civil society as antagonistic autonomous entities. This consideration brings us where the Turkish politics are perceived as a terrain of conflict between Islamists and secularists. The centre-periphery relations approach has four shortcomings. First, the state and society are considered separately. Second, the market and the state; and the economy and the politics are considered separately. Third, as considered separately, the theory takes civil society as automatically progressive. Fourth, the social relations of productions are neglected. This thesis argues that the Islamists versus secularists dichotomy is not sufficient enough to explain the complexity of contradictions in Turkish politics because of the given four shortcomings. Therefore, a more complex theory where the antagonism is considered within the class struggle is needed. Antonio Gramsci’s theory of hegemony, passive revolution and most importantly the integral state provides a new window in this respect. The Gramscian historical materialism offers a holistic understanding for the relationship between the state and society, the market and the state, and the economy and the political. As part of the hegemonic struggle, civil society can be on either side of the struggle therefore it is not considered as automatically progressive in Gramscian historical materialism. As a historical materialist approach, Gramscianism considers the social relations of production as the crucial element of the analysis. The pre-2002 periods (before the Justice and Development Party came into power) were already researched by Gramscian scholars. Therefore, the neoliberal restructuring in Turkey during the Justice and Development Party era is the focal period of this thesis. There will be a specific focus on the cases of urbanisation, education, and the mass media. The conceptual framework of state-society relations is the analytical basis of this study. Overall, this thesis offers an alternative reading of the rise of political Islam in Turkey.

La ville de Najaf a hérité d'un patrimoine architectural riche et est aujourd'hui menacée de disparaître. Grâce au grand nombre de touristes religieux, la ville est en pleine métamorphose bien que ces changements soient souvent à l'origine de la destruction de ce patrimoine. Cette thèse a pour objet l'architecture de la ville de Najaf dans son contexte urbain et historique. L'histoire de la ville de Najaf est concomitante à celle de la ville d'al- Küfa (capitale entre 36/658 et 40/662) qui se situe à quelques kilomètres de Najaf. Cette seconde ville fut construite par les musulmans en l'an 17/639 avec une importante stratégie politique avec sa proximité de la ville d'al­Bira, capitale des Lakhmides, située à quelques kilomètres. Cette configuration géographique localement appelée « le triangle de la civilisation», représente un creuset de plusieurs styles architecturaux et urbains. L'étude des deux villes (al-Hira et al- Küfa) est donc essentielle pour comprendre le contexte dans lequel la ville de Najaf s'est créée et développée. Pour comprendre l'architecture de Najaf, nous étudierons dans un premier temps l'architecture de ces deux villes. Dans un deuxième temps nous démontrerons la relation qu'elle a créée avec son mausolée, considéré comme le noyau central de la ville, et qui a conservé cette forme depuis 1032/1623. Enfin nous étudierons le reste de la ville et ses alentours à travers ses monuments religieux et civils tels que les mosquées, les écoles et bien d'autres monuments. À travers cette thèse, nous allons présenter cette architecture dans son état actuel et dans son contexte urbain, social et historique
The city of Najaf has inherited a rich architectural heritage and is today threatened with extinction. Thanks to the large number of religious tourists, the city is undergoing a metamorphosis although these changes are often at the origin of the destruction of this heritage. This thesis focuses on the architecture of the city of Najaf in its urban and historical context. The history of the city of Najaf is in continuity with that of the city of al-Kufa (capital between 36H / 658 and 40H / 662) which is located a few kilometers from Najaf. This city built by the Muslims in the year 17H / 639 represented a strategic point but also a political hub grown fast not far from the city a proximity of al-Hira, capital of the Lakhmids, also located a few kilometers away from it. This geographical configuration is locally called "the triangle of civilization", and represents a melting pot of several architectural and urban styles. The study of the two cities (al-Rira and al­Kufa) is therefore essential to understand the context in which the city of Najaf was created and developed. To understand the architecture of Najaf, we will first study the architecture of these two cities. Then to better know the architecture of the city, we will demonstrate the relationship created between the Imam Ali mausoleum, (considered as the central core of the city, and who kept these provisions since 1032H / 1623) and the rest of the city by the religious and civil monuments such as masques, schools and many other monuments. Through this thesis, we will present this architecture in its current state and in its urban, social and historical context

L’objet de cette thèse est d’étudier l’impact de la stratégie de diversification sur la performance et les risques des banques islamiques. Nous nous intéressons en particulier à deux catégories de la diversification : la diversification d’activité et la diversification des modes de financement. Notre étude se décompose ainsi en deux grandes parties. Le premier chapitre de la première partie présente une revue de littérature du concept de la diversification. Cette littérature laisse entrevoir que ce concept de diversification fait débat entre les chercheurs. Certains affirment que ce concept permet d’augmenter la performance et de réduire les risques des établissements bancaires. Toutefois, nombreuses sont les études qui affirment que la mise en place de la diversification s’accompagne nécessairement par une augmentation considérable des coûts. En outre, cette stratégie aura pour effet d’exposer la banque à de nouveaux types de risques qu’une banque spécialisée n’encourra pas. Ensuite, dans le deuxième chapitre, nous analysons l’émergence de la finance et des banques islamiques dans la sphère financière internationale. Nous étudions d’abord, les principaux fondements théoriques de cette finance. Ensuite, nous nous intéressons à l’apparition des banques islamiques et analysons le modèle économique sur lequel elles reposent. Dans la dernière section, nous nous concentrons sur l’étude de la problématique de la diversification dans ces institutions. Nous trouvons que ces institutions sont actuellement assez concentrées. Cependant, cette situation est dénoncée par les jurisconsultes, qui, en se référant aux principes de la finance islamique, recommandent à ces banques de diversifier davantage leurs portefeuilles (d’activités, de secteurs, de modes de financement) pour être plus en ligne avec les objectifs de cette finance. Dans la deuxième partie, nous analysons la relation entre la diversification et la performance des banques islamiques, selon deux axes différents: la diversification d’activité et la diversification des modes de financement islamique. Dans le premier chapitre, nous trouvons que les banques islamiques Malaisiennes étaient des banques diversifiées. L’analyse des RAROC montre que l’activité de la banque de détail et commerciale est la meilleure activité et celle qui contribue le plus aux performances des banques. Notre étude aborde également la diversification d’activité en analysant la frontière d’efficience et les portefeuilles optimaux. Nous trouvons que les banques de notre échantillon devaient se spécialiser afin de maximiser leurs rentabilités et minimiser les risques. Nous avons trouvé également que les recommandations formulées, suivaient, dans la majorité des cas, les stratégies actuelles des banques islamiques. Dans le deuxième chapitre, nous analysons une problématique spécifique aux banques islamiques : la diversification de leurs modes de financement. Nous avons trouvé que les banques islamiques sont actuellement très concentrées autour de la technique de la Mourabaha. Or, l’analyse des portefeuilles optimaux et des frontières d’efficiences, suggère qu’une diversification de ces modes de financement serait plus profitable à ces banques. Enfin, dans le troisième chapitre, nous analysons le capital investissement islamique et trouvons que ce concept peut constituer la réponse idéale au manque de diversification des banques islamiques. Nous appuyons cette analyse par l’étude de cas d’Al Rajhi Bank, la deuxième plus grande banque islamique dans le monde
The purpose of this thesis is to study the impact of the diversification on the performance and the risks of Islamic banks. We are particularly interested in two types of diversification: diversification of activities and diversification of the financing techniques. Our study is divided into two parts. The first chapter of Part One presents a literature review of the concept of diversification. This literature suggests that there is a debate among researchers about this concept. Some argue that diversification increase the performance and reduce the risks of banks. However, many studies claim that the establishment of the diversification is necessarily accompanied by a considerable increase in costs. In addition, this strategy exposes the bank to new types of risks that a specialized bank doesn’t incur. In the second chapter, we analyze the emergence of Islamic finance worldwide. We first examine the main theoretical underpinnings of this finance. Then we focus on the emergence of these Islamic banks and analyze their economic model. In the last section, we study the issue of diversification in these institutions. We find that Islamic banks are currently fairly concentrated. However, this situation has been denounced by the Scholars who encourage these banks to diversify further their portfolios (of activities, sectors, financing techniques) to be more in line with the objectives of the Islamic finance. In the second part, we analyze the relationship between diversification and the performance of Islamic banks, according to two different axes: the activity diversification and the diversification of the Islamic financing contracts. In the first chapter, we find that the Malaysian Islamic banks were diversified. The RAROC analysis shows that the retail and commercial activity is the best activity, which contributes the most to the performance of these banks. Our study also discusses the activity diversification by analyzing the efficient frontier and the optimal portfolios. We find that the banks of our sample should be specialized in order to maximize returns and minimize risks. These recommendations followed, in most cases, the current strategies of these Islamic banks. In the second chapter, we analyze a specific issue of Islamic banks: the diversification of their financing techniques. We found that Islamic banks are currently highly concentrated around the technique of Murabaha. However, the analysis of optimal portfolios and efficient frontier, suggests that diversification of these modes of financing would be more profitable for banks. Finally, in the third chapter, we analyze the Islamic private equity and find that this concept may be the ideal response to the lack of diversification of Islamic banks. We support this analysis by studying the case of Al Rajhi Bank, the second largest Islamic bank in the world

This study investigates Hizb'allah's successful but competing dual development as an extra-institutional Shi'a social movement and an institutional political party. Hizb'allah has traditionally been studied from the perspective of one of its many natures, such as a social movement, Islamic movement, resistance, or political party, each perspective bringing with it limitations and differing interpretations of its identity, motivations, and success. The motivation behind this research was to seek an interpretation of the movement's development and success that would encompass these multiple natures. Through an interpretation of social movement ‘life-cycles', a social movement ‘development model' is proposed that accounts for contradicting theories on the ‘success' of social movements, interpreting success instead as an ability to exhibit simultaneous institutional and extra-institutional natures. The hypothesis provided in this work is that it is an ability to simultaneously exhibit institutional and extra-institutional natures that can be a source of strength and success for a movement, drawing capital from both while avoiding accountability that typically accompanies institutional politics. This challenges traditional theoretical approaches in terms of linear life-cycles with few paths for the social movement to choose from. In turn, questions arise regarding notions of social movement life-cycles being uni-directional, continuously progressing towards ‘institutionalization' or demise. Ideas of an ‘end-date' or ‘inevitable outcome' of social movements are also confronted. This interdisciplinary study is conducted by means of media, archival, and empirical research (participant observation, interviews, and surveys), focusing on changing constituent perceptions of the movement between 1985 and 2013. It is also argued that Hizb'allah's strength is its ability to draw from both extra-institutional and institutional resources while simultaneously avoiding accountability. However, it was also found that, by forming the 2011 governing coalition, the movement upset this balance by subjecting itself to accountability inherent in governance, in turn leading to ‘schizophrenic behaviour' as Hizb'allah sought to serve conflicting constituent and state interests. The significance of this research is that it not only provides an explanation for Hizb'allah's success, but also provides an interpretation of social movement development that accounts for multi-natured movements.

The international financial crisis naturally prompts the question of whether IIFS are robust and resilient or may be swept into crisis by a global wave and if so through what channels. This thesis considers channels through which the world financial crisis would affect IIFS, their features that may help contain it and those that may foster post crisis recovery in a dual banking system. Our sample covers 467 conventional banks and 90 Islamic banks in 16 countries for the period 2000-2008, a range advanced economies and emerging markets. We estimation the financial stability (z-score) in conventional and Islamic banks. The z-score has become a popular measure of bank soundness (Boyd and Runkle, 1993; Maechler, Mitra, and Worrell, 2005; Beck and Laeven, 2006; Laeven and Levine, 2006; Hesse and Čihák, 2007, 2008, 2010; Mercieca, Laeven and Levine, 2009; Beck; Demirgüç-Kunt and Merrouche, 2010). With a robust and a quantile estimation model, this empirical analysis explores causes of insolvency risk in Islamic and conventional banks in Middle East and North Africa (MENA) and Southeast Asian countries, by controlling for various factors, bank-by-bank data, macroeconomic and other system-wide indicators.

Cette Thèse de sciences de gestion, se propose d’élucider les difficultés que rencontrent les acteurs du système bancaire comorien et apporter des solutions afin de lui garantir sa solidité, stabilité et enfin sa pérennité. Elle est divisée en deux parties. La première porte plus particulièrement sur le cadre national et internationale du système bancaire comorien. La deuxième met en évidence les banques comoriennes confrontées à la transparence financière et aux exigences de supervision prudentielle. Le premier titre de la première partie, tâche à mettre en lumière l’organisation actuelle du système bancaire comorien inspiré du modèle français (chapitre 1) et l’apport du développement récent de la finance islamique (chapitre 2) afin de combler le retard de la banque conventionnelle. La réorganisation de la Banque Centrale des Comores et la mise en place de la banque islamique locale, peuvent contribuer au changement radical du système bancaire comorien. Le deuxième titre, permet au régulateur et prêteur en dernier ressort (Banque Centrale des Comores) de prendre le modèle des normes prudentielles internationales proposées par le Comité de Bâle (Bâle II et III), pour réguler le système bancaire comorien afin de lui garantir sa solidité, stabilité et enfin sa pérennité (chapitre 1). A travers ces recommandations du comité de Bâle, nous avons apporté des solutions en élaborant la Matrice Msahazi Credit Scoring Corporation, destinée aux analyses des données des banques comoriennes contre un risque endogène (Chapitre2). Nous avons aussi élaboré d’autres matrices que les banques comoriennes se serviront pour la notation interne, des risques de contreparties (entreprises et particuliers) afin de lutter contre le risque exogène. La deuxième partie de cette Thèse suggère deux autres solutions : la première est l’exigence de transparence financière des banques comoriennes (Pilier 3 : Bâle2 et 3) afin de lutter contre les malversations financières orchestrées par certains agents (titre I). Le premier chapitre introduit l’objectif de la communication financière de manière générale et la manière dont le comité de Bâle (Bâle 2 et 3) recommande les banques de communiquer leurs informations financières (méthodes d’évaluations des risques et fonds propres). Le deuxième chapitre propose aux banques comoriennes et aux autorités de contrôles, les techniques de notation financière pratiquées au niveau internationale pour distinguer le niveau de solvabilité de la contrepartie. La deuxième solution, nous avons donné à la Banque Centrale des Comores, des techniques pour renforcer la supervision prudentielle (Pilier 2, Bâle 2 et 3), (titre II). Le premier chapitre exige d’une part la direction et le conseil d’administration de la banque de définir les techniques de contrôles, d’indentifications, d’évaluations, gestions des risques et les objectifs de fonds propre à atteindre. D’autre part, l’autorité de contrôle (Banque centrale des Comores) doit passer au crible tous ces outils de contrôle. Au deuxième et dernier chapitre de la recherche, nous avons proposé à la Banque Centrale des Comores des nouvelles méthodes de supervision prudentielle afin de garantir la solidité, stabilité et pérennité du système bancaire. Nous avons l’espoir que l’ensemble de ces suggestions contribueront à préserver la solidité, stabilité et pérennité du système bancaire comorien afin de financer le développement de l’économie comorienne et sortir le pays de la pauvreté
This thesis on busness management, aims to elucidate the difficulties faced by the stakeholders of the Comorian banking system and to provide solutions to ensure its soundness, stability and sustainability. The thesis is divided into two parts. The first focuses specifically on the national and international context of the Comorian banking system. The second, highlights how the Comorian banks should adapt to the financial transparency and prudential supervision requirements. The first title of the first part, tries toshed light on the current organization of the Comorian banking system based on the French model (Chapter 1) and the contribution of the recent development of Islamic finance (Chapter 2) to close the gap in conventional banking. The reorganization of the Central Bank of the Comoros and the establishment of the local Islamic bank can contribute to a radical change in the Comorian banking system. The second title allows the regulator and lender of last resort (Central Bank of the Comoros ) to take the model of international prudential standards proposed by the Basel Committee (Basel II and III) to regulate the Comorian banking system in order to guarantee its soundness, stability and finally sustainability (Chapter 1). Through these recommendations of the Basel committee, we have provided solutions by developing Msahazi Credit Scoring Matrix Corporation, intended to analyse data of Comorian banks against endogenous risk (Chapter 2). We have also developed matrices other than Comorian banks used for internal rating of the counterparty risk (companies and individuals) to fight against exogenous risk. The second part of this thesis suggests two alternatives: the first is the requirement of financial transparency for Comorian banks (Pillar 3: Basel Conventions 2 and 3) in order to fight against embezzlement orchestrated by certain agents (Title I). The first chapter introduces the objective of financial reporting in general, and how the Basel Committee (Basel 2 and 3) asks banks to disclose their financial information (methods of risk assessments and equity). The second chapter provides credit rating techniques practiced at international level to the Comorian banks and supervisory authorities in order to distinguish the level of creditworthiness of companies and clients concerned. The second alternative we have given to the Central Bank of the Comoros is the techniques for strengthening prudential supervision (Pillar 2, Basel 2 and 3), (Title II) . The first chapter requires both the management and the bank's board of directors to define control techniques, identifications, assessments, risk managements and core capital goals. On the other hand, the supervisory authority (Comoros Central Bank) has to go through all these control tools. In the second and final chapter of the research, we propose to the Central Bank of the Comoros new prudential supervision methods to ensure the soundness, stability and sustainability of the banking system. We hope that all of these suggestions will help to preserve the soundness, stability and durability of the Comorian banking system in order to finance the development of the Comorian economy and lift the country out of poverty

Le second choc pétrolier a ouvert une ère nouvelle dans l'évolution financière des pays arabes. Les réserves substantielles en pétrole dans ces pays ont constitué un avantage compartif pour entreprendre des projets industriels dans le secteur des hydrocarbures. Les énormes dépenses publiques ont permis le développement des infrastructures des économies de ces pays. Toutefois, ces dépenses n'ont pas engendré un secteur privé sain. En effet, la crise du Souk al manakh en 1982 au Koweït a freiné le développement de l'entreprise privée dans les pays du Golfe. Les fonds de développement dans ces pays ont été les premiers fournisseurs des capitaux à long terme pour tous les secteurs économiques. Parmi les autres intermédiaires financiers, les sociétés d'investissement et les compagnies d'assurance ne sont pas encore développées. D'autres événements importants ont eu lieu depuis 1982 aussi bien au niveau régional qu'au niveau international qui ont mis en danger la survie d'un grand nombre d'institutions financières des pays du Golfe. Les institutions financières islamiques tentent de trouver leur place parmi les autres intermédiaires financiers das le Golfe. .
The second oil crisis constitued a new era in the financial evolution of the Arab Gulf countries. The large reserves in this region creates a substantial comparative advantage in the hydrocarbon sector. The revenues derived after this crisis enabled these states to industrialize rapidly and develop their economic infrastructure, the massive public spending however did not succeed in generating a healthy private sector. In fact the crash of the Souk-al-Manakh in Kuwait in 1982 severly damaged private entreprise in the Gulf countries. In the same year, several other important events occured such as the fall of oil prices in the spot market, the first iranian victory in the Gulf war, the resurgence of the islamic world and the deregulation of the international financiel markets. The accumulated effect of these events has resulted in a serious challenge to the arab financial institution in the Gulf region as well as around the world. The islamic financial institutions are trying to find their place amond the other financial intermediaries in the Gulf. The importance of the oil revenues to the Gulf states and the dramatic fall of oil prices since 1986 have motiveted me to begin this study of the future prospects of petrolum in the Gulf region

La vida humana, inserta en la irrealidad propia de la fatuidad del hecho, intenta encontrar lo auténtico, lo seguro, lo constante; en esta búsqueda personal e íntima se refleja la convergencia de innumerables circunstancias que dibujan las nuevas formas de llegar a lo absoluto. De esta manera, todas las culturas encuentran su estabilidad social mediante la creación de símbolos definidos por su características sociológicas; esta estabilidad guía, a manera de un mapa, la conducta del ser humano, proporcionándole un conocimiento, cierto y veraz, a partir del cual se transforma en agente y representante de la acción social dentro de un conjunto de instancias que sirven como contexto discursivo de la razón práctica. Esta unidad simbólica, encarnada en el hombre, le permite crear una serie de estrategias, las cuales se adecúan a diversos lugares y situaciones tanto históricas como geográficas. Así pues, una comunidad encuentra maneras sólidas de llevar su mundo a través de distintos marcos y estructuras de referencia, elaborando un sistema de acciones yuxtapuestas e intercambiables. Estas ideas nos permitieron acercarnos a la realidad de distintas comunidades que viven en Lima, en un intento por estudiar sus tradiciones religiosas y sus interpretaciones culturales. Los ortodoxos, los judíos y los musulmanes fueron parte de las primeras indagaciones de este estudio, realizadas con el objetivo de circunscribir nuestro tema. En esta etapa preferimos dedicarnos a las comunidades judía e islámica, con el fin de realizar un estudio comparativo que nos permitiera vislumbrar algunas consideraciones generales sobre el proceso de lo sagrado, debido al hecho que entre ellas existen numerosos puntos en común , como por ejemplo la adoración a un mismo Dios, la revelación mediante profetas y libros sagrados, similitud en muchos aspectos sociales y culturales. Pero a la vez, encontrábamos una serie de conflictos y disputas surgidos a partir de mediados del siglo XIX que han ido creciendo por supuestas causas religiosas. De una u otra manera, este trabajo quería explicar cómo se entretejían las relaciones interculturales en base a la definición cultural a partir de la producción y reproducción del capital religioso de cada tradición.
Tesis

This work applies intersectionality to five Somali women self-narratives and focuses on their identities and positions in Swedish society, but also their relation to Somali society. Since people constructs in relation to the environment, this work studies the impact of environmental confirmations of their own self. Intersectionality is brought into the social work with an operational attempt, and shows how critics of power and interplay between theories and empirics can provide new knowledge. Intersectionality also demands some alterations of the social constructionists’ idea of the ego. Therefore this work outline a model of analysis that considers the critic of power. According to this work, intersectionality implies that social work is essentially about power. The women’s egos seem to be closely united different strongly. The more different identifications the women describes and the more ambivalent they are allowed to be in different milieus, the greater assets has the women in their ability to move between milieus and to pass between positions of power. But the tighter united some of their identifications are in their egos; the firmer is their assumptions of what constitute a good behaviour. And the stronger united the ego is, the space to pass through positions of power in different arenas is shrinking.

This work emphasizes the importance of making shifts of power in identification categories visible in order to localize resistance strategies among exposed individuals. This work also suggest that social work should consider the supplementary vulnerable situation that signify the position in intersection between power orders and contradictory norms, since that could lead to too simplified conclusions that create additional isolation. Being sensitive to the experience and resolution of these women’s own experiences and resolutions is therefore crucial in achieving good social work. Accordingly, lack of knowledge is an obstacle to resist discrimination and oppression. Another conclusion is that social work and social politics should aim to strengthen the ego of immigrant women in order to release their driving forces that in turn may lead to participation, not only to the Swedish society. These Somali women appear as peace endeavours, whose political voices has been marginalised both in the Somali and the Swedish context, which obstacle peace making in the Somali society.

Based on a series of interviews in Malaysia and the United Arab Emirates, we conduct a comprehensive exploratory study of Islamic Venture Capital focusing on the distinguishing features of its financial rights and securities and the context which affect their design. We use a qualitative methodology, the Grounded Theory approach, to generate new theory. We find that while Islamic contractual rights and securities may have formal differences with their conventional counterparts, they are very close in economic substance. This form-substance dichotomy is a central characteristic of Islamic Venture Capital. Market demand for an Islamic brand of venture capital based on ideals of fairness and solidarity clashes with the reality of an array of agency issues and claims venture capitalists need to address. The capacity of Islamic venture capitalists to address these conflicting forces increases with their experience. Their ability is, however, constrained by their fiscal and legal environments. In form, commitment to Islamic ideals is therefore signaled through an investment policy excluding a small number of industries and through the use of Islamic financial instruments with little economic difference, if any, with their conventional counterparts. Minor economic inefficiencies can result, although overall, they are insignificant. In substance, Islamic Venture Capital is thus operationally and economically a near-equivalent to conventional venture capital. Following our analysis of the interviews, we position our theoretical contribution within related literature through an extensive survey. To further support our theory of form-substance dichotomy, that is the process by which the difference in form is maintained, but not in economic substance, we demonstrate the near-equivalence of Islamic financial instruments’ economic substance with their conventional counterparts’ through a systematic comparison of economic payouts for the entire Islamic venture capital asset class. This research is unique in that it is the first to our knowledge to address the topic of financial contracting in Islamic venture capital. Previous research in Islamic finance is heavily normative, and there is generally a dearth of research publications dealing with either Islamic financial contracting or Islamic venture capital.

Research Doctorate - Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
The genre of travel writing is widely recognised as providing useful insights into the ways that discourse is used to frame the interplay between self, place and Other. Recently, it has been suggested that these writings inform the development of global citizenry literacy because, as cultural texts, they recount an engagement in, and with, cosmopolitanism while informing readerships about the foreign. However, it is important to remember that these writings appear in context and the authors of such texts craft discourse to construct sociocultural imaginings of the self and Other – of a journey told from a particular viewpoint, in a particular time, to a particular audience. Through an analysis of the travel writings of four Western women who travelled to Iran in a particular historical moment – after the Islamic Revolution of 1979 and until Iran was positioned as part of the ‘Axis of Evil’ in 2002 – this thesis examines the ways in which these authors script their gaze through discourse. The author/narrator is an aesthetic cosmopolitan figure, who casts her gaze from a particular ‘viewing platform’ informed by Western discourse and accumulated cultural capital. Attention is paid in this thesis to the ways in which these writers discursively frame their narratives according to the ‘I’ of the gendered experiencing self who focuses the ‘eye’ (or gaze) through a lens oriented by their cosmopolitical imagination or worldview. Notions of authenticity, fear, danger and threat appeared as recurring themes in each of the selected texts and operate to construct place as political, self as heroic and the journey as quest. The authors engaged aesthetic dimensions of time and space to position the liminal in their narratives and, in so doing mobilised discourses of gender and power. Notions of the liminal were employed to describe Iran����s physical and social scapes to position discursive spaces in the texts that were used to affirm traveller identity, build cultural capital and, in the process, make political comments. The texts revealed that while the authors commonly used metaphor and trope drawn from inherited Western discourses such as Orientalism, postcolonialism and imperialism to provide authority, they also drew from the currently circulating discourses of gender equity, human rights and liberal democracy; all of which foreground notions of freedom. However, these currently circulating discourses, when combined with dimensions of heroism, were found to work in the tradition of inherited Western discourse – to authorise the narrator voice and legitimise the ways that self and Other are constructed. The central argument this thesis makes is that Western travel writing is restricted in its contribution to global literacy because these texts reveal more about Western ways of seeing the world and about the author as cosmopolitan than they do about the foreign.