Tarek S. Zaher

A Comparative Literature Survey of Islamic Finance and Banking

There has been large-scale growth in Islamic finance and banking in Muslim countries and around the world during the last twenty years. This growth is influenced by factors including the introduction of broad macroeconomic and structural reforms in financial systems, the liberalization of capital movements, privatization, the global integration of financial markets, and the introduction of innovative and new Islamic products. Islamic finance is now reaching new levels of sophistication. However, a complete Islamic financial system with its identifiable instruments and markets is still very much at an early stage of evolution. Many problems and challenges relating to Islamic instruments, financial markets, and regulations must be addressed and resolved. In this paper, we provide a comprehensive comparative review of the literature on the Islamic financial system. Specifically, we discuss the basic features of the Islamic finance and banking. We also introduce Islamic financial instruments in order to compare them to existing Western financial instruments and discuss the legal problems that investors in these instruments may encounter. The paper also gives a preliminary empirical assessment of the performance of Islamic banking and finance, and highlights the regulations, challenges and problems in the Islamic banking market.

Intertemporal risk–return relationship in the Asian markets around the Asian crisis

Abstract This study investigates the risk–return relationship in nine Asian capital markets and the U.S. before, during, and after the Asian financial crisis. Using a state-dependent approach in a TGARCH(1,1)-M framework, we investigate a contemporaneous version of the CAPM by accounting for negative and positive market price of variance risk. We find a significant positive relationship between risk premium and variance in all markets in upstate, as well as a significant negative relationship in downstate. Also, we validate our findings by showing that implied state-dependent market prices of variance risk explain risk premia across markets. Finally, we investigate how the model can be used to uncover overreaction and improve the number of correct directional calls in a tactical asset allocation strategy. Our results provide support for a contrarian strategy that individual investors can follow.

Performance of debt free firms

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to find out whether investors tend to reward firms that resist the urge to borrow and operated with debt free balance sheet and penalize firms that have high levels of debt. Design/methodology/approach - The performance of portfolios of debt free firms are compared to comparable portfolios of leveraged firms. Debt free firms are matched with conventional firms of the same size from the same sector. Two tests of differences in the performance are conducted for a long period and for a short period. Findings - The results of the study indicate that investments in portfolios of debt free firms tend to generate higher returns than investments in their peers of portfolios of leveraged firms over long and short periods. The results have clear implications on investment decisions and investment performance. Investors tend to reward firms that resist the urge to borrow heavily and operate with debt free balance sheet and penalize firms that have high level of debt. Originality/value - The results of the study can be of great interest to investors as well as firms specially during periods of financial crises. It raises again the question as to what is the optimal level of debt a firm should have in normal times and during periods of economic or financial crises.

On market price of risk in Asian capital markets around the Asian flu

Abstract This study investigates a contemporaneous relationship between realized market risk premia, and conditional variance and covariance in nine Asian markets and the US. The time period for this study is before, during, and after the Asian financial crisis. A contemporaneous state-dependent capital asset pricing model (CAPM) that allows for negative and positive market prices of variance and covariance risk is investigated. In the light of significant upstate and downstate reward to local and world variance risk for all markets and all periods, we conclude that a market return-generating process is a piecewise function of local and world variance over time. Furthermore, a cross-sectional analysis of upstate and downstate market prices of variance and covariance risk indicates that reward to risk is a mix of reward to local and world variance, depending on the ever-changing correlation with the world market. Our findings are consistent with the one-factor conditional international CAPM.

Middle East and North Africa Markets: Investment Challenges and Market Structure

This paper highlights the major developments and structural changes in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) markets. Noticeable growth was observed in these markets during the last decade. This is evidenced from the record growth rates in market capitalization, number of listed companies, value traded and shares traded in most of the MENA capital markets. Stock market boom was also observed, by the end of 2005, in many of the MENA countries. This was followed by a major correction (crash) in these MENA countries. To support the growth in capital markets and attract more local and foreign investors, MENA markets would need continue to incorporate changes to procedures, laws and the professional infrastructure within the financial market and better dissemination of information. Compliance with international and regional laws is also essential for a healthy development. The paper also examines the evidence underlying the notion that there is increased integration of MENA and developed country financial markets and that MENA market equities do not represent a separate asset class. We analyze the correlation structures among individual country equity markets and efficient frontiers over two sub periods. We also analyze the structure of the correlations among political risk indicators for a similar group of countries over similar time periods. The results of the study suggest that capital market integration has accelerated in recent years, both economically and politically, but only for three countries in the MENA region. We therefore conclude that the MENA market countries should continue to be viewed as separate asset class from developed countries. These markets seem to be highly segmented and provide great diversification potentials to global investors.

How to Access Financial Data of the Internet and Use for Research In Finance And Economics

Information access at no cost or low cost is becoming vital for academic researchers in finance and economics. As a result of the budget cuts at most universities in the United States, the vast majority of schools of business, other than research I institutions are now unable to purchase readily available financial data on CDs or tapes (such as CRSP or Compustat data). In order to continue their research agenda, researchers at such schools must find alternative low cost sources of data. In addition to the difficulty in locating the data, iit is a challenge to downloadthe data that one needs in a timely manner. In fact, locating and downloading a particular set of financial data when time is at a premium can be a source of frustration for researchers and educators. This paper removes some of the difficulties that researchers and educators encounter when trying to locate and access financial data on the Internet. It provides an easy way of accessing and downloading one of the most useful financial data sets available on the Internet. In particular, the author shows how to download sets of selected interest rates of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago web site. The same steps could be used to access and download other financial data sets that are available on the Board of Governors web site or any of the remaining eleven Federal Reserve Banks’ web sites. The data sets include current and historical daily, weekly and monthly rates for a number of financial securities including, certificates of deposit, commercial paper, federal funds, bankers acceptance, Eurodollars deposit, Treasury-bills, Treasury -bonds, finance paper, state and local bonds, conventional mortgages, and rated corporate bonds. The data sets also include the Federal Reserve discount rate, foreign exchange rates and a wide selection of macroeconomic variables.

Does It Pay to Invest in Debt Free Firms During Recessions

This study attempts to find out whether investors reward firms that carry no debt and penalize firms that carry large amount of debt during recessions. I compare the performance of portfolios of large cap debt free firms to comparable portfolios of leveraged firms during the last recession. The results of the study suggest that investments in portfolios of debt free firms tend to generate higher returns than investments in portfolios of leveraged firms during recessions. The evidence presented here has clear implications for investors and portfolio managers. During market downturns, debt free firms will not have the additional burden of debt and may be able to recover much quicker than leveraged firms, and therefore they would outperform their peers of leveraged firms. Investors would therefore be better off if a larger portion of their equity investment is allocated to debt free firms rather than leveraged firms.