Building,Marketing and Living in an Islamic Gated Community: Novel Configurations of Class and Religion in Istanbul

This article analyses the development and marketing of Islamic gated communities in Basaksehir, Istanbul. It demonstrates how a blueprint of public–private urban development was appropriated by middle‐class Islamists. The gated communities in Basaksehir—which, at the outset, were not explicitly religious—gradually became attractive to religious actors searching for enclosed urban enclaves where Islamic communities would be protected against perceived moral‐urban threats. While urban‐religious enclaves appear to bear similarities to pre‐modern Ottoman Islamic urban enclaves, the rise of contemporary Islamic gated communities should be understood in light of the recent coming to power of the Islamist Turkish government. In cooperation with this government, housing development agencies approached Islamic investors to find capital for their public–private housing projects. One of the results of this form of urban development is that, contrary to pre‐modern Ottoman Islamic urban enclaves, the Islamic gated communities are homogenous in terms of economic class, catering specifically to the Islamic middle classes. Moreover, people who invest in Basaksehir desire an urban‐religious lifestyle that differs from the ‘traditional' religious lifestyle experienced in ‘traditional' Islamic neighbourhoods. The specific urban‐religious configuration generates a new type of Islam that better fits middle‐class values and a middle‐class lifestyle.     

Impact of Islamic banking development and major macroeconomic variables on economic growth for Islamic countries: Evidence from panel smooth transition models

This study examines the nonlinear relationship between Islamic banking development, major macroeconomic variables and economic growth in Islamic countries. Using the panel smooth transition model, the results show a positive nonlinear relationship between Islamic banking development and economic growth. Moreover, the relationship between the macroeconomic variables and economic growth is asymmetric and regime-dependent. Further, by using the dynamic panel quantile model, we show that for many cases the Islamic banking variables lead economic growth across the quantiles. More specifically, foreign direct investment, oil production and inflation have a positive impact on economic growth during the normal financial development state, while government consumption, one-lag economic growth, terms of trade and financial development have a negative impact on economic growth for this state. The human capital index, education and the rule of law have an insignificant impact, regardless of the prevailing regime. The results for the separated oil-importing and oil-exporting economies are generally consistent with the combined sample regarding the Islamic banking development variables. As for the macro variables, they have a positive and significant (insignificant) effect on EG for the oil-importing (oil-exporting) economies for almost all models.     

Behind the veil: an exploratory study of the myths and realities of women in the Iranian workforce

Despite significant advancements, women executives and professionals have continued to complain about the existence of a glass ceiling in the UK, the USA, Canada and other countries that espouse equal employment opportunities. Little is known about the role and plight of women in the workforce in Islamic countries. In general, Western societies perceive the participation of women in the workforce and their upward career mobility as very limited in Islamic societies. This article seeks to address this limitation in the field by unravelling some of the myths and realities pertaining to women in the Iranian labour force. Based on interviews with 12 Iranians, reality checks were performed on five widely held perceptions of the status of women in Iran, including women's participation in the labour force, appointment to managerial/professional positions, representation in higher education, segregation in the workplace, and Islam's attitude towards non‐Muslims. These issues are discussed in the contexts of foreign direct investment in Iran and other Islamic countries. Implications for international human resource management, including the assignment of women expatriates to Iran and other Islamic nations, are also addressed.     

Financial stability of Islamic banking and the global financial crisis: Evidence from the Gulf Cooperation Council

Using a sample of 76 banks from the Gulf Cooperation Council region, we use accounting- as well as market-based measures of financial stability to examine whether Islamic banks outperformed conventional banks in the time of financial shocks during the period 2000–2013. We find that the difference between the two banking types was initially not significant during the GFC. However, when the financial shock spread to the real economy during the later phases of the crisis, Islamic banks suffered a significantly higher level of financial instability than conventional banks. This result holds true for large banks but not for small Islamic banks. Small Islamic banks demonstrated a relatively better handling of the economic downturn than large Islamic banks, supporting the argument that Islamic banks are more stable when they operate at a small scale but lose this stability when they increase their scale of operations. Hence, while Islamic banks may have escaped the consequences of highly volatile financial instruments, they were not spared from a major shock in the real economic sectors.     

Human Vicegerency and the Golden Rule: The Islamic Case Against Exclusion

The Islamic conception of social exclusion complements the Catholic perspective found in other contributions to this issue. The Islamic prohibitions of social exclusion are derived from theological principles that combine to provide a metaphysical basis for the golden rule that one should treat others as one wishes to be treated. This article examines the roots of a practical morality that enjoins us to treat other people as equals and prohibits exploitation of them in economic exchange. This philosophy is based on four principles found in the Qur'an and the hadith (teachings of the Prophet): vicegerency, commensurability, responsibility, and prophecy. These four principles combine to show how humans, as God's agents on earth, have the means to carry out the divine will. The practice of justice in Islamic thought does not rely on social conventions that are variable and contingent but on absolute principles revealed to us by the Prophet. That gives Islam an advantage over secular thought in establishing a strong foundation for social and ethical principles that give egalitarianism a transcendent basis. Thus, social inclusivity in Islamic thought is an integral part of a life governed by piety and prophecy.     

创业投资契约机制与机会主义行为

文章从"经济人"的自利性、公平理论和信息不对称等方面分析创业投资活动中道德风险产生的理论原因,并根据投资方和创业方对创业投资契约条款的认知不同,对创业投资契约条款进行分类分析,找出双方的主要分歧,分析创业投资道德风险产生的现实原因。根据道德风险产生的原因,提出建立契约设置的动态调整机制,合理分配投资方和创业方的收益,减少投资方与创业方委托代理关系中的道德风险。这种动态调整机制包括企业价值动态分配机制、信息共享机制、支配权的相机调整机制、双向激励机制和风险分担机制。     

Islam’s Gift: An Economy of Spiritual Development

According to the standard narrative, economics is an objective and scientific study of universal laws applicable to economic affairs of modern societies. After a brief introduction, the second section of the article presents a counter‐narrative that disputes this claim, and provides an alternative point of view that situates modern economics within its European historical, political, and social context. We briefly discuss why the conventional methodology of modern economics makes false claims to objectivity and universality. The third section provides an alternative methodology that is based on the recognition that human behavior is inherently and unavoidably normative, and any study of human beings and societies must take this into account. The fourth section of the article brings out the norms concealed within the foundations of modern economics, since the avowed methodology does not permit explicit and open expression of these norms. The fifth section describes Islamic views that describe the normative ideals for our personal and social lives. In particular, Islam aims at the development of the potential for excellence that every human being is born with. It does not aim at accumulation of wealth and material possessions. Nor does it aim at achievement of happiness through the maximization of pleasure achieved by consumption. The sixth section describes the transformational strategies required for spiritual progress in different dimensions of our human existence. The seventh section describes some of the institutional structures required in the economic realm to assist in the achievement of the transformation towards the normative ideals. The final section explains how we should use our unique and precious lives to aim for higher goals than mere consumption of goods and acquisition of wealth.     

THE SEVENTH‐CENTURY ISLAMIC GOLD STANDARD

Monetary systems are catalysts for economic, social and political progress. The interdependence between monetary, economic and political order is illustrated by currency competition between the Byzantine and Muslim empires in the seventh century. The evolution of an Islamic gold standard demonstrates that Byzantine and Muslim ruling circles were conversant with the dynamics of currency competition. In keeping with the theory of currency competition, the creation of the Muslim gold standard marked the beginning of a rapid economic outperformance by the Islamic empire.     

Statehood,democracy and preindustrial development

This paper proposes a growth model linking state history to economic development. It considers three state systems: non-statehood, authoritarian statehood, and democratic statehood. These differ in the way a public good is provided, which in turn determines growth rates. Under certain assumptions, democratic states grow faster than authoritarian ones, which in turn grow faster than non-states. All societies start with non-statehood and transition into authoritarian statehood at some point, but the timing is random. When later given the opportunity, only those societies that transitioned relatively recently to authoritarian statehood transition to democracy. When they do, they begin to grow faster, eventually overtaking older and still authoritarian states. This generates an inversely U-shaped cross-sectional relationship between development and state history consistent with modern cross-country data.     

FEMALE ENTREPRENEURSHIP IN EARLY ISLAM

The absence of female leaders in business and public life is conspicuous in Islamic societies. One explanation may be that Islam imposes legal and social inequality on men and women. However, a comparison of female entrepreneurship in pre‐Islamic society and in Mohammed's era shows that women occupied leadership roles before and after the establishment of Islam. Mohammed's wives were commercially astute, and Mohammed and his contemporaries respected the rights of women to make decisions regarding finances, matrimony and religious affiliation. The right of women to assume public leadership roles is compatible with Islam.     

Impact of COVID-19 pandemic on stock markets: Conventional vs. Islamic indices using wavelet-based multi-timescales analysis

We empirically explore the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on Islamic and conventional stock markets from a global perspective. We also explore the co-movement between Islamic and conventional stock markets. Two comparable pairs of conventional and Islamic stock indices – Dow Jones Index and FTSE Index are considered in this study. Employing Wavelet-based multi-timescales techniques on the daily data from 21st January to 27th November 2020, our findings indicate that the pandemic creates identical volatility in both stock markets. Our findings further suggest that both markets are strongly associated and tend to co-move highly during our sample period, rebutting the decoupling hypothesis of the Islamic stock market from the conventional market. However, the Shariah screening process fails to provide immunity to Islamic stock markets against financial crises. Our findings suggest that investors should be aware that Islamic stocks' conservative features do not present a superior investment alternative, especially in economic turmoil.     

ISLAMIC BANKING AND FINANCE: RECENT EMPIRICAL LITERATURE AND DIRECTIONS FOR FUTURE RESEARCH

This paper examines the recent empirical literature in Islamic banking and finance, highlights the main findings and provides a guide for future research. Early studies focus on the efficiency, production technology and general performance features of Islamic versus conventional banks, whereas more recent work looks at profit‐sharing and loss‐bearing behaviour, competition, risks as well as other dimensions such as small business lending and financial inclusion. Apart from key exceptions, the empirical literature suggests no major differences between Islamic and conventional banks in terms of their efficiency, competition and risk features (although small Islamic banks are found to be less risky than their conventional counterparts). There is some evidence that Islamic finance aids inclusion and financial sector development. Results from the empirical finance literature, dominated by studies that focus on the risk/return features of mutual funds, finds that Islamic funds perform as well, if not better, than conventional funds – there is little evidence that they perform worse than standard industry benchmarks.     

Muhammad's Conception of Property as A Bundle of Rights

Property was first conceived of as a bundle of rights in early Islam. The legal instrument that crystallised this Islamic conception was the waqf, a legal entity delivering public welfare in accordance with the wishes of a benefactor. Trusts, which evolved in the thirteenth century, have a rationale analogous to that of waqfs, and in fact may have replicated the legal template of waqfs. The finding that waqfs are germane to Islam has ramifications for policies on waqfs in contemporary Islamic societies.     

Adam Smith's and Douglass North's Multidisciplinary Approach to Economic Development

This article aims to point out Adam Smith's and Douglass North's multidisciplinary approach to economic development and history. Based on a philosophical link of methodological issues, Smith and North shared a conceptual framework and explanatory principles in common as well as similar historical illustrations. In terms of the use of comprehensive and integrated models of society, politics, and economy, they presented that economic development relies on how far congenial both institutional environments and sociocultural values of justice, liberty, security, and equality are to economic agents, allowing the interplay between economic performance and polity/culture. Meanwhile, these suggest a bridging role between old and new institutionalism, and, more importantly, a revival of Smithian moral philosophical tradition in the history of economics.     

Prevention and mitigation of epidemics: Biodiversity conservation and confinement policies

This paper presents a first model integrating the relation between biodiversity loss and zoonotic pandemic risks in a general equilibrium dynamic economic set-up. The occurrence of pandemics is modeled as Poissonian leaps in economic variables. The planner can intervene in the economic and epidemiological dynamics in two ways: first (prevention), by deciding to conserve a greater quantity of biodiversity to decrease the probability of a pandemic occurring, and second (mitigation), by reducing the death toll through a lockdown policy, with the collateral effect of affecting negatively labor productivity. The policy is evaluated using a social welfare function embodying society’s risk aversion, aversion to fluctuations, degree of impatience and altruism towards future generations. The model is explicitly solved and the optimal policy described. The dependence of the optimal policy on natural, productivity and preference parameters is discussed. In particular the optimal lockdown is more severe in societies valuing more human life, and the optimal biodiversity conservation is larger for more “forward looking” societies, with a small discount rate and a high degree of altruism towards future generations. Moreover, societies accepting a large welfare loss to mitigate the pandemics are also societies doing a lot of prevention. After calibrating the model with COVID-19 pandemic data we compare the mitigation efforts predicted by the model with those of the recent literature and we study the optimal prevention–mitigation policy mix.     

MUSLIM WOMEN AND PROPERTY RIGHTS

This paper examines rights to property accorded to women in Islam under direct     injunctions and compares it with the state of these rights in present Muslim societies. It argues that the correct application of     law will not only materially improve the status of women in Muslim societies and guarantee them economic security, it will also bring economic prosperity to such societies directly.     

‘Gatekeepers’ of Islamic financial circuits: Analysing urban geographies of the global Shari’a elite

This paper analyses the importance of ‘Shari’a scholars’ in the Islamic Financial Services (IFS) sector, which has been a growing global practice since the 1970s. Based on Shari’a Law, IFS firms provide banking, finance and insurance respecting faith-based prohibitions on interest, speculation and risk taking. Although IFS firms operate across a variety of scales and involve a range of actors, this paper focuses on the transnational capacities of Shari’a experts employed by IFS firms. These scholars use their extensive knowledge of Shari’a Law to assess the ‘Islamic’ character of a firm's operations, and assist the development of Shari’a-compliant products. As they embody necessary entry-points into Islamic circuits of knowledge and authority, members of what we dub the ‘global Shari’a elite’ can be regarded as ‘gatekeepers’ of Islamic financial circuits. Drawing on a comprehensive data source we present a geographical analysis of Shari’a board membership, nationality and educational background of 253 Shari’a scholars. The results show that the global Shari’a elite connects a limited number of IFS hubs (e.g. Dubai, Kuala Lumpur, Kuwait City, Manama, and London) to knowledge and authority networks falling outside ‘mainstream’ business and service spheres.     

Cyclicality of bank credit growth: Conventional vs Islamic banks in the GCC

Using a panel of 104 banks from the six Gulf Council Countries, we investigate the cyclicality of credit growth with regard to the discrepancies between Islamic banks and conventional banks. We found that Islamic banks are pro-cyclical and have higher credit growth compared to conventional banks. Indeed, the Profit and Loss Sharing (PLS) mechanism helps Islamic banks not to curb their credit growth during adverse economic conditions. We tested the role of the growth rate of market sentiment and found that positive market sentiment leads to higher bank credit growth. Furthermore, we investigate the impact of several bank-specific variables on bank credit growth and discuss to what extent diversification and the investment portfolio reshape the credit growth process.