The capital structure theory advocates a mix between debt and equity to optimize a firm‘s value (Modigliani & Miller, 1958). However, Islamic finance recognizes more conservative levels of debt for firms, based not on capital structure, but on debt to total assets or debt to market...

Global reliance on Hydrocarbon sector has dramatically increased multi-fold which has led to rise to dominance of GCC. GCC is home to 45% of the proven oil reserves and contributes nearly 35% of the world oil exports annually. With such heavy reliance of the world on GCC for its oil produce, and...

As an investor, we are interested in the relationship between economic and financial indicators. For this, for the investor, it is of utmost importance to identify the correct model for the long run and short run relationship, as this will determine the timing of entering and exiting the stock...

Determination of diversification strategies by investors depends on the nature and magnitude of the relationships existing between different stock markets. Therefore, it is important for international investors to understand the relationship among various markets in order to diversify risk and...

Traditionally, the main role of the bank is to offer loans to its customers, to facilitate the intermediary role in the financial market between the investors and feed the need of the big corporations in terms of investment. This study is an attempt to analyze, at the same time, the impact of...

A major issue facing the investors in the financial markets of the contemporary world is to identify whether the observed stock market fluctuations are due mainly to contagion or fundamentals. This is due to the fact that if the fluctuations are mainly due to a contagion, then it is something...

The economic process that Euro Zone countries have gone through created contradictory claims about whether those particular financial markets have converged, which has implications for the portfolio diversification issue for the investors and policy makers alike. Thus, this paper aims to examine...

This paper attempts to analyse the extent of financial integration of two developed (the U.S. and Japan) and two emerging Islamic stock markets (China and India) with the Malaysian Islamic stock market in order for the Malaysian financial traders to make decision about their portfolio...

The Islamic bonds or sukuk market is one of the fastest growing segments of the nearly US$2trillion global Islamic finance industry. However, lack of trading in secondary sukuk markets is a peculiar feature in this sector and both institutional and retail sukuk investors are known to adopt a...

The issue of market linkages (and price discovery) between stock indices and the lead-lag relationship are topics of interest to financial economists, financial managers and analysts. The lead-lag relationship analysis should take into account both the short and long-run investor. From a...