After a brief recent empirical sketch of Islamic finance, the paper turns to its main theoretical and conceptual purpose. It seeks to relate the concepts of Islamic and conventional finance, and to examine certain important questions which arise from the interaction between these systems. The...

This study is a sequel to the 2012 Sheng and Singh article that identified and explained the significance of the two central tenets of Islamic finance: namely, its underpinning by a strong ethical system, and the absolute prohibition of the use of interest rates. That study also argued that the...

Islamic finance has come of age. Islamic banking and finance have been growing at a very fast rate, despite apparent serious setbacks (such as interruption of payments in Abu Dhabi in 2009, the Great Recession in Western countries between 2008 and 2010, and the recent turmoil in Middle Eastern...

From its humble beginnings in the 1990s, Islamic finance has become a trillion US dollar industry. The market consensus is that Islamic finance has a bright future due to favourable demographics and rising incomes in the Muslim community. Moreover, despite voices sceptical of an accommodation...

This short paper aims to contribute to the debate on the causes and remedies for high rates of unemployment and under-employment, which presently afflict large parts of both the North (industrial countries) and the South (developing countries). The starting point for the paper is a recent...

This paper examines the impact on labour markets in advanced countries (ACs) of the integration of the two giant fast-growing countries, China and India, with the liberalised global economy. The integration is taking place under “current globalisation,” which consists of free trade, free...

This paper considers the question of economic nationalism through the lens of economic openness. Complete economic openness, which connotes close or total integration of a country with that of the world economy, is the antonym of economic nationalism. The paper argues that economic openness is a...

This paper examines the implications of PMAI particularly from the standpoint ofdeveloping countries. It argues that (a) the case against an MAI-typeagreement is, if anything, stronger now than before; such a treaty would seriously prejudice economic development; (b) PMAI is not only incompatible...

This paper was prepared for the joint ICTSD – GP International Dialogue entitled, Making Special & Differential Treatment More Effective and Responsive to Development Needs, held 6 & 7 May 2003, in Chavannes-de-bogis, Switzerland.

This paper focuses on the inter-relationship between corporate governance, financing of corporate growth and stock market development in emerging countries. It explores both theoretically and empirically the nature of the inter-relationships between these phenomena, as well their implications...