Economics and Finance Faculty Publications and Presentations
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
10-29-2020
Abstract
Billions of dollars, across 131 countries, are invested in Islamic law‐compliant funds that are often promoted as consistent with the spirit and overall objectives of Islam (Maqasid Al‐Sharia), thereby indicating they are more socially responsible, less risky, and less prone to failure. The empirical results of this study indicate that Shariah‐compliant firms identified by the Dow Jones do not have higher corporate social responsibility (CSR) scores, lower risk, or lower likelihood of failure than non‐compliant firms. We address endogeneity using the instrumental variable (IV) approach and selection bias using propensity score matching (PSM). Our results are similar when using the Dow Jones Islamic Market World, the Financial Times Stock Exchange Islamic Index, and the Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation indices and when using CSR scores provided by multiple databases. We create an index to measure compliance with Islamic law that overcomes several flaws in the binary measures currently employed in the industry. This index can help Shariah‐compliant funds to fulfill their promise by constructing portfolios that are both compliant with Islamic rulings and consistent with the spirit and objectives of Islam in being more socially responsible, less risky, and less prone to failure.
Recommended Citation
Elnahas, Ahmed, Ghada Ismail, Rwan El‐Khatib, and M. Kabir Hassan. 2020. “Islamic Labeled Firms: Revisiting Dow Jones Measure of Compliance.” Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, October. https://doi.org/10.1111/jbfa.12507.
Publication Title
Journal of Business Finance and Accounting
DOI
10.1111/jbfa.12507
Comments
Elnahas, Ahmed, Ghada Ismail, Rwan El‐Khatib, and M. Kabir Hassan. 2020. “Islamic Labeled Firms: Revisiting Dow Jones Measure of Compliance.” Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, October. https://doi.org/10.1111/jbfa.12507. which has been published in final form at https://doi.org/10.1111/jbfa.12507. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Use of Self-Archived Versions.