Contemporary global governance has become reliant on the expert knowledge of professional actors. Yet governance systems based on technical forms of private authority have proven highly unstable and vulnerable to crisis. How is private authority re-configured following challenges and pressures for change in times of crisis? This dissertation explores the agency exercised by a range of professional actors seeking to legitimately reassert power during periods in which their expert knowledge has become unsettled. A two-prong thesis is advanced. First, in drawing on explicitly normative discourses professional actors seek to reassert moral authority, rather than addressing flaws in their expert knowledge and emphasising their technical authority. Professional actors express attention to and involvement with a wider array of overtly ethical issues that had previously been abstracted away. Second, reassertions of authority may depend not merely on more explicit positioning within normative debates but upon the underlying ideas and values prioritised. The authority of professional actors remains precarious when value sets linked to crisis are continuously emphasised. A genealogical analysis of professional actors in Anglo-American finance since the outbreak of the most recent financial crisis in 2007 is undertaken through a revised variant of the discursive institutionalist framework. Informed by primary documents from professional actors and their associations along with original interviews and secondary media documents, the changing underpinnings of the authority of financial services providers, economists, and advisories based in the United States and United Kingdom are examined. The study contributes to a wider emphasis on the changing authority of a range of private actors as well as to an enhaced stress on both discourse and ethics in International Relations, Global/International Political Economy, and Global Governance scholarship. / Dissertation / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) / This dissertation explores the persistent prominence of professional actors in Anglo-American finance since 2007. Though their legitimacy has become widely challenged with the outbreak of the most severe period of instability since the Great Depression, the power of these private actors has not entirely been dislodged. Professional actors have sought to legitimise such continued power in financial governance in novel manners since 2007. This study critically assesses attempts by professional actors to reconfigure their authority in the recent period of volatility. In interpreting how professional actors have sought to reconfigure authority, rather than explaining the ultimate success of their attempts to do so, efforts by professional actors to legitimise their power are scrutinised. Uncovering the precariousness of such attempts, this study casts further doubt on the legitimacy of both professionals as well as on-going efforts to reform financial governance that persistently rely on the authority of private actors.

Изучение теоретических основ исламского банкинга в понимании ведущих ученых стран СНГ, а также выявление перспектив и проблем применения опыта исламских финансовых институтов в российских регионах. Исламская экономическая модель получила широкое распространение в мире, что определило заинтересованность экономического и научного сообществ во внедрении ее опыта в традиционную финансовую модель в целях минимизации риска возникновения кризисных ситуаций и формирования более устойчивой финансовой системы. Анализ банковского сектора в регионах, реализующих пилотный проект по внедрению исламского банкинга, позволил выявить ряд проблем и перспектив. Во-первых, развитая конъюнктура рынка способствует адаптации принципов исламской банковской модели, во-вторых, наличие квалифицированных кадров в области исламского банкинга позволяет разрабатывать тактические и стратегические планы развития финансового института. Исламская модель ведения банковского бизнеса имеет специфический набор свойств, способствующих формированию устойчивого развития не только банковского, но и финансового рынка в целом. / Studying the theoretical foundations of Islamic banking as understood by leading scientists from the CIS countries, as well as identifying the prospects and problems of applying the experience of Islamic financial institutions in Russian regions. The Islamic economic model has become widespread in the world, which has determined the interest of the economic and scientific communities in introducing its experience into the traditional financial model in order to minimize the risk of crisis situations and form a more stable financial system. Analysis of the banking sector in the regions implementing a pilot project to introduce Islamic banking has revealed a number of problems and prospects. Firstly, the developed market environment contributes to the adaptation of the principles of the Islamic banking model, and secondly, the availability of qualified personnel in the field of Islamic banking makes it possible to develop tactical and strategic plans for the development of a financial institution. The Islamic model of banking business has a specific set of properties that contribute to the formation of sustainable development not only of the banking, but also of the financial market as a whole.

Cette étude traite du sujet des emprunts lexicaux dans le domaine de la finance islamique. Etant donné que ces emprunts sont employés dans un environnement nouveau totalement différent de celui dont ils sont issus, ils rencontrent une confrontation au système de la langue receveuse. C’est cette confrontation qui se manifeste à tous les niveaux linguistiques : graphique, morphologique, morphosyntaxique, morpholexical, sémantique, contextuel et syntaxique que nous nous proposons d’étudier dans notre recherche. Au niveau graphique, nous discutons et analysons la variance formelle que les emprunts de ce domaine ont reçue en français. Au niveau morphologique, nous abordons le sujet des sigles et leur formation dans le domaine de la finance islamique. Concernant la morphosyntaxe, nous nous intéressons à la problématique de la singularisation ou la pluralisation d’un emprunt et le choix du genre de cet emprunt. Au niveau morpholexical, c’est le problème de la dérivation de ces unités qui est analysé et observé dans le corpus. Au niveau contextuel, nous reprenons la question du transcodage et du double transcodage des emprunts que nous essayons de développer, en ajoutant à la littérature déjà existante un axe qui n’a pas été traité auparavant : la problématique de transcodage des emprunts composés. La syntaxe des emprunts, sera traitée dans cette étude à partir de deux points primordiaux. Le premier étant la combinaison lexicale des emprunts avec les lexies de la langue receveuse ; le deuxième concerne, quant à lui, le comportement sémantico-syntaxique des emprunts. / This study deals with the subject of lexical loan words in the Islamic finance field. Therefore, and because these words are used in a new and totally different environment, they encounter a confrontation with the recipient language system. Hence, the purpose of the present thesis is to study this confrontation at all linguistic levels; be it graphic, morphological, morpholexical, semantic, contextual and syntactic. On the graphic level, the analysis will focus on the formal variance that loan words of this domain received in French. On the morphological level, we address the subject of acronyms and their formation in the Islamic finance field. With regard to the morphosyntax, our interest lies not only on the singularization or the pluralization of the loan words but on the choice of the grammatical gender of these loan words as well. On the morpholexical level, an analysis of the problem resulting from the derivation of these units as observed in the corpus. On the contextual level, we address again the issue of transcoding and double-transcoding of loan words that we are trying to develop. A concept that will add to the existing literature an axis that has not been dealt with before: the case of transcoding compound loan words. To sum up, this study deals with the syntax of loan words from two points of view. Firstly, it focusses on the lexical combination of loan words with the lexis of the recipient language and secondly, it focusses on the semantic-syntactic behavior these loan words.

Die Arbeit untersucht in Form einer prospektiven Implementierungsstudie juristische und ökonomische Voraussetzungen und Folgen eines Angebots von murābaḥa-basierten Verträgen in Deutschland. Dabei werden einzelne Herausforderungen dargestellt und Lösungsansätze erarbeitet. / This thesis examines legal and economic requirements and consequences for offering murābaḥa-based contracts in Germany in the form of a prospective implementation study. Different challenges and solution approaches are presented.

The research undertaken aims to contribute to the debate about market efficiency and market volatility in an Islamic context. The research relates to the Amman Stock Exchange (ASE) and covers the period 1992 to 2007. It undertakes quantitative analysis involving two key elements: first, testing for random walk and calendar anomaly effects in market returns and, second, modelling volatility in market returns. The thesis applies a series of standard econometric and statistical techniques to this issue. The key ‘novel’ contributions of this study relate to the focus on Islamic religious holiday effects and also the application of behavioural finance theoretical models to explain the findings in terms of the influence of social mood (mood misattribution) effects. These are approaches that have not been previously applied in the literature within an Islamic context. The author argues that the econometric and statistical techniques applied are ‘fit for purpose’. Standard methods are applied; however, these are applied in ‘novel’ ways in parts of the thesis. For example, moving-date calendar effects are modelled for the first time and the modelling of volatility makes use of interaction effects to explore the impact of interactions between different mood-influencing variables. The study begins by identifying that the ASE index returns do not follow a Random Walk. It then goes on to identify day-of-the-week effects. First trading day of the week effects found in relation to the first trading day that follows the Muslim holy day of Friday. Monthly calendar effects were also found. January or turn-of-the-year effects were found in the ASE similar to those found previously in some Western markets. However, the largest monthly effects were found in relation to the holy month of Ramadan. Most significantly, Ramadan was found to be the only month where the average daily returns were both statistically different from the other months in the year and also positive. This, it is argued in the thesis, is due to social mood (or mood misattribution) effects. The research looks beyond informational efficiency and develops a number of ‘novel’ contributions to research in this area in terms of both the empirical findings and the behavioural finance-related interpretation of these findings, as well as the influence of Islamic ethics in Amman’s stock market returns. The thesis also examines the relationship between seven behavioural mood-proxy variables and stock market returns. Fama (1991) argues that efficiency and volatility are unrelated. In this thesis, however, evidence is uncovered which suggests that this may not be the case. High levels of volatility were found at the start and at the end of the Ramadan holy festival; this volatility, it is argued, is related to social mood. This issue is examined further by exploring previously unstudied interactions between mood-related Ramadan effects and mood-related weather and biorhythmic effects. The results of this thesis, the author believes, provide strong evidence for the existence of Muslim religion investment decision biases associated with social mood effects (mood misattribution). It is argued that these social mood effects in the case of Jordan relate mainly to Islamic ethics and cultural issues, as they are found predominantly during the Ramadan religious holiday. Despite the existence of decision biases within the ASE, no profitable trading anomaly opportunities were identified. This may be due, in part, to Jordan having high trading transaction costs. It is possible, however, that profitable trading opportunities related to Islamic holidays may exist in countries that follow stricter religious observance. The author believes that there is an opportunity to extend this research to countries such as Bahrain.

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.

The main purpose of this dissertation is to lessen the gap in the Islamic finance and investment literature by providing new answers to the most vital question raised in that literature: Is the adherence to the Shariah law associated with at any cost? The first chapter provides a primer on Islamic finance. It discusses several restrictions and necessary adaptations that must be made to have a Shariah-compliant product. The takeaway is that Shariah law mandates is related to fundamentals and, thus has a direct effect on the risk-return profile of all sorts of different products. This is referred to as the “Islamic-effect.” The second chapter investigates that Islamic-effect in a cross-sectional stock return context. This is done in two steps. First, looking at differences in stock returns between Islamic and conventional firms in Saudi Arabia during the period from January 2003 to April 2011. Results indicate that there is a negative relationship between Saudi Islamic firms and average returns. This is referred to as the “negative Islamic-effect.” Second, examine whether that negative Islamic-effect is considered a common, systematic, and undiversified risk factor that affects cross-sectional expected stock returns. Time-series regressions results indicate that the Islamic risk factor (CMI) does indeed capture strong common variation in Saudi stock returns regardless what is included in the model. Also, findings suggest that using a four-factor model that controls for the Islamic-effect is more appropriate than using a single- or a three-factor model in Islamic finance applications that require estimates of expected stock returns. The third chapter investigates the Islamic-effect in a mutual fund context. A unique sample of 143 Saudi mutual funds (96-Islamic and 47-conventional) is used to assess the performance and riskiness of Saudi Islamic funds relative to Saudi conventional funds and relative to different Islamic and conventional indices for the period from July 2004 to January 2010. Findings suggest that there is a benefit (cost) from adhering to the Shariah law when locally-focused (internationally-focused) fund portfolios are investigated. When Arab-focused fund portfolios are investigated, findings suggest that there is neither a cost nor a benefit from adhering to the Shariah law.

Le sujet des banques islamiques fait partie des sujets importants. Au Koweït, un certain nombre des banques islamiques exercent des opérations bancaires ainsi que des transactions commerciales mais celles-ci sont démunies de l’intérêt « Riba ». C’est pour cela que je voudrais aborder les modes de fonctionnement de ces banques sans oublier le contrôle des institutions bancaires islamiques. D’une part, la démonstration de la notion d’usure s’est faite par le biais de la présentation de la doctrine au regard du Fiqh et de la Charia. D’autre part, l’étude traite le système juridique des intérêts usuraires en droit Koweïtien . Par conséquent, l’étude s’avère complète à travers la présentation de l’aspect formel et procédural des banques islamiques, de leurs succursales sans oublier leurs départements en passant par leurs opérations ainsi que les services qu’elles proposent. Cette étude s’achève alors sur l’explication du système légitime (Charia) et juridique de la notion d’usure. / Islamic banking is one of the most important topics. In Kuwait, a number of Islamic banks engage in banking and commercial transactions but they avoid interest "Riba" in their transactions. Consequently, the study proves the formal and procedural aspects of Islamic banks and their departments, including their transactions and services. The study then concludes with the explanation of the legitimate (Sharia) and legal aspects of the concept of "Riba".

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-25T18:39:57Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Ahmed Sameer El Khatib.pdf: 18817073 bytes, checksum: f21d885766402db1a187b6d8dc213a83 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2013-11-18 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / Most world countries communicates with investors and stakeholders about the corporate financial performance in accordance with the International Accounting Standards issued by the International Accounting Standards Board - IASB. A group of countries, however, are not comfortable with the adoption of these standards, because understanding that they wound their principles, as is the case in Islamic countries, where religion influences the economic and financial activities of the company. Some of these countries adopt and adhere to the rules contained in the Sharia ( Islamic Law ) which brings together , in one book , a guide to social conduct, moral , ethical , religious and economic , as well as aspects of finance . Such rules have emerged with the advent of Islam in the seventh century AD and are followed to the present day, being based, including for Islamic accounting standard setters of each country and the Accounting and Auditing Organization for Islamic Financial Institution - AAOIFI, which promotes adoption of Islamic Standards of Accounting and Auditing for Islamic Financial Institutions - IFIs worldwide. Whereas research involving Islamic accounting in Brazil is still incipient and there is significant international importance , especially in relation to Islamic finance , given the volume of transactions that it focuses on an annual basis , as well as the existence of a body that issues accounting standards for IFIs , it was intended with this work to answer the following research question : What are the differences and similarities between Islamic Accounting Standards issued by AAOIFI and the International Accounting Standards issued by the IASB ? Therefore, the research involved, initially approach the characteristics and particularities of religion and Islamic finance, to then be about Islamic accounting. It has become necessary for meeting various research sources in the literature since the subject involving practically nonexistent in Brazil. We analyzed all 25 international accounting standards issued by AAOIFI by the year 2012 and the understandings of the IASB on related topics. It was concluded that there are differences in most standards, especially with regard to the Conceptual Framework, the basis for the issuance of regulations, hindering the adoption of IFRS by the Islamic Financial Institutions / A maior parte do mundo já se comunica com os investidores e as partes interessadas, sobre o desempenho financeiro corporativo, nos termos das normas internacionais de contabilidade, emitidas pelo International Accounting Standards Board - IASB. Existe um conjunto de países, entretanto, que não está confortável com a adoção dessas normas, por entender que elas ferem seus princípios, como é o caso dos países islâmicos, onde a religião influencia as atividades econômicas e financeiras da sociedade. Alguns desses países adotam e respeitam as regras contidas na Sharia (Lei Islâmica) que reúne, num só livro, um guia de conduta social, moral, ética, religiosa e econômica, bem como aspectos de finanças. Tais regras surgiram com o advento do islamismo no século VII d.C. e são seguidas até os dias atuais, sendo base, inclusive, para os normatizadores contábeis islâmicos de cada país e para o Accounting and Auditing Organization for Islamic Financial Institution - AAOIFI, que promove a adoção das normas islâmicas de contabilidade e auditoria para as Instituições Financeiras Islâmicas IFIs espalhadas pelo mundo. Considerando que as pesquisas envolvendo contabilidade islâmica no Brasil ainda são incipientes e que existe significativa relevância internacional, sobretudo em relação às finanças islâmicas, dado o volume de operações que ela concentra anualmente, bem como a existência de um órgão que emite normas de contabilidade para as IFIs, pretendeu-se com esse trabalho responder a seguinte questão de pesquisa: Quais são as diferenças e semelhanças entre as Normas Islâmicas de Contabilidade emitidas pelo AAOIFI e as Normas Internacionais de Contabilidade emitidas pelo IASB? Para tanto, a pesquisa envolveu, inicialmente, uma abordagem das características e particularidades da religião e das finanças islâmicas, para em seguida versar sobre a contabilidade islâmica. Tornou-se necessária a reunião de várias fontes de pesquisa, na medida em que a bibliografia envolvendo o tema praticamente inexiste no Brasil. Foram analisadas todas as 25 normas internacionais de contabilidade emitidas pelo AAOIFI até o ano de 2012 e os entendimentos do IASB sobre os temas correlatos. Concluiu-se que existem diferenças na maioria das normas, especialmente no que diz respeito à Estrutura Conceitual Básica, base para a emissão dos normativos contábeis, dificultando a adoção das IFRS por parte das Instituições Financeiras Islâmicas

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.