Ramin Cooper Maysami

Evidence on the relationship between Takaful insurance and fundamental perception of Islamic principles

One of the complexities overarching the concept of Islamic insurance is anchored in the belief system pertaining to fundamental Islamic Law, while another is embedded in the role of profit within the takaful contract. The purpose of this study is to empirically explore the association between the awareness of the existence of Islamic insurance (takaful) and religious perceptions of this financial service. I think the way to move will be to identify more people within the Malay/Muslim community who have an interest in this type of insurance. Perhaps AMP [Association of Muslim Professionals] can do a survey to produce statistics to show that there is a potential demand for this type of service before approaching the banks and insurance companies. Up to now my impression is that the demand is either unknown or not sufficiently known for the insurance companies themselves to initiate something. Dr Richard Hu Former Finance Minister, Republic of Singapore1 1 ‘Window of Opportunities for Islamic Financing’, Karayawan, Volume 3.

Lucas type external effects of human capital: strong evidence using microdata

Past evidence on the existence Lucas type external effects of education has been, at best, mixed. This study re-visits a two-stage microeconometric approach which allows for the estimation of the external effects of human capital on wages (and therefore productivity). Strong evidence is found of external effects to education – and in particular, years of schooling and job-related training – using microdata from Venezuela.

Research trends in resource and environmental management: a review of the literature

Environmental and resource management have often been at odds with industrialisation and rapid economic growth and this is apparent when reviewing the cases of growing economies of China and India. This article reviews the literature and concludes that not only promoting effective natural resource management contributes to price stability, availability of products and long-term employment, but also that it is socially desirable in terms of poverty reduction and reducing the burden on public health systems. The article further proposes that a key step in alleviating the clash between the national desire to grow and its potential adverse effects on the environment and natural resources is the enhancement of academic research on sustainable resource and environmental management among the intellectual community. Accordingly, we have investigated the current research trends to assess whether the academic institutions are on the right research track.