International Journal of Economics, Management and Accounting

The Potential Influence of COVID-19 on the Arab World Economy

2022-09-01T22:27:22+08:00

This paper predicts Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19)'s potential influence on the Arab country's economy by using two predicting models: the Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average (ARIMA) model and Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) model. The World Bank offers data of the Arab countries' Gross Domestic Product (GDP) over the period 1968-2019. As we show up at the pinnacle of the COVID-19 pandemic, quite possibly the most critical inquiry going up against us is: what is the potential impact of the pandemic on the rate of GDP in Arab countries during the pandemic period? LSTM is recurrent neural networks (RNN), which are competent in understanding temporal dependencies. Therefore, the model based on LSTM achieved a great fit with the real data, which is what made us rely on its results more than the ARIMA model. The results of the LSTM model showed that the COVID-19 pandemic caused a decrease in GDP by approximately 17.22% and 5.41% in 2020 and 2021, respectively, with respect to the real GDP announced by the World Bank. In addition, we trained the LSTM-based model on real data from 1968 to 2020 and predicted the GDP growth rate in the next five years until 2025. Thus, what is certain now is that the Arab world states have to encounter the challenges presented by the current ecosystem. Transition to digital economy is needed, additional volume of data with high-level accuracy is required to improve precise and robust models to attain projections with a reduced amount of margin of error.

Achievement Motivation in Islamic Management Practices: Developing a Scale and Validation

2022-09-27T13:16:39+08:00

Existing research on the relationship between work ethics and various religious faiths is growing. One of these work ethics is work motivation. This article aims to discuss the concept of the need for achievement as Islamic motivation. In addition, this study intends to introduce a series of further implementations of achievement motivation theory according to the Islamic perspective. We obtained data from 324 members of several sales teams of the Indonesian Islamic organization to validate the measurement. Our research revealed 15 indicators that measure achievement motivation from an Islamic viewpoint. Researchers and experts may utilize the findings when designing, establishing, and applying relevant job motivation from a religious standpoint so that spirituality can increase constantly in the entire workforce. Furthermore, this study provides guidelines to leaders of Islamic -based institutions to motivate their sales force by considering Islamic work ethics and religiosity

Reducing Financial Exclusion and Enhancing Contribution of Non-Interest (Islamic) Banks in Nigeria

2022-04-05T08:44:58+08:00

Financial exclusion denies people access to useful and affordable financial products and services including transactions, payment, savings, credit and insurance. Thus, Nigeria launched its National Financial Inclusion Strategy in October 2012 to reduce financial exclusion to 20.0% by end 2020 from 46.3% in 2010; and the licensed Islamic banks are stakeholders in this declaration. Thus, the study adopts an exploratory approach to discuss the contribution of Non-Interest (Islamic) Banks in achieving the set target from the supply-side. The study found that Islamic banks in Nigeria have contributed to reducing the exclusion rate from the supply-side to 35.9% in 2020 by financing customer centric Shari’ah compliant products; growth in branch network and other touch points; agent banking operations; and participation in the Central Bank of Nigeria non-interest intervention schemes. The study recommends the spread of their financial touch points to the unbanked rural populace in other states; while it encourages the government, the Central Bank of Nigeria, and all other stakeholders to sustain efforts in reducing financial exclusion.

Theory of Planned Behavior in Determining Factors Influencing Tourists' Travel Intentions during the COVID-19 Pandemic

2022-11-02T11:03:02+08:00

After more than a year since the COVID-19 pandemic, almost all worldwide industries, particularly tourism, have been affected by it. Tourism demand dropped as destinations and travel-related enterprises were constrained. This study looked at the elements influencing tourists' travel plans during the COVID-19 pandemic. Apart from the Theory of Planned Behavior, the study considered additional elements that might influence travel plans, such as perceived risks, knowledge, and word of mouth. Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin (KMO), Bartlett Tests, Principal Axis Factor, Promax Rotation and multiple regression tests were used. According to the findings based on 1,568 usable questionnaires obtained through online convenience sampling, all of the factors were found to affect tourist intention to travel during the pandemic. Despite their relatively small effect sizes, perceived behavioral control was the most important variable, followed by subjective norm, word of mouth, and attitude. The conclusions could help policymakers and industry experts in developing the optimal tourist strategy for winning public trust and generating revenue for the host destination.

Knowledge Management Practices and Academician Well-Being: A Case Study of Selected Private Universities in Malaysia

2023-01-27T16:25:06+08:00

Academicians and practitioners have considered knowledge management practices as the keys to organizational competitive advantage which would contribute to the success of a business organization. Previous studies on knowledge management practices and employee well-being, however, have received little attention. Hence, the purpose of this paper is to empirically investigate the relationship between knowledge management practices, specifically knowledge acquisition, knowledge sharing, knowledge creation, knowledge codification and knowledge retention on academicians’ well-being. A questionnaire-based survey was conducted to gather data from academicians in selected private universities in Malaysia. Questionnaires were distributed and gathered with a total of 170 usable responses. The analysis of the findings was conducted using structural equation modeling (SEM-PLS). The findings suggested that knowledge acquisition, knowledge creation and knowledge retention are likely to improve academicians’ well-being. The findings also revealed that knowledge sharing and knowledge codification are not significant with academicians’ well-being. This paper is limited to academicians in private higher education institutions. Hence, this limits the generalizability of the results. Future research could therefore test the applicability of these findings beyond the higher education sector. Studies comprising the relationship between the five main knowledge management practices and academicians’ well-being are still lagging in the academic literature. This study provides theoretical as well as practical information on a relatively unexplored area.

Food Neophobia: Explored and Unexplored Terrains

2022-12-01T19:47:15+08:00

Food neophobia is being regarded as an individuals’ reluctance to try unfamiliar or novel food and consequently the inclination to stay away from it. In addition, unfavorable taste, odor and appearance of novel foods signifies the definition of neophobia. Since research pertaining to food neophobia is limited, review is aimed at exposing the disparity in research on past, current and future trends pertaining to research on food neophobia. Studies on food neophobia are essential as food neophobia has impact on food preferences. Understanding the factors influencing food preferences is vital for implementing and promoting positive changes in the food habits of any society. The identification and compilation of all food neophobia-related publications covered publications produced between 2010 and 2020. Articles were selected from the three most prominent and popular online databases/search engines, namely 1) EBSCOHost (http://search.ebscohost. com), 2) Science Direct (http://www.sciencedirect.com), and 3) Google Scholar (http://scholar.google.com). Based on the results, a thorough analysis was achieved concerning the following: (1) theory pertaining to food neophobia, (2) measures of food neophobia, (3) importance of research pertaining to food neophobia, (4) researches on food neophobia, and (5) directions for future research on food neophobia. The study concerning food neophobia is essential as food neophobia influences food preferences. Understanding the factors prompting food preferences is crucial towards the implementation and promotion of positive changes in the food habits of any society. This study adds to the academia and industry by discovering several inadequacies in the existing studies and bestowing an outline for future research. Further studies are certainly imperative to empirically authenticate the concept of food neophobia through systematic investigations and devise a means to quantify it.

Return and Volatility Interaction between Islamic Indice and Bitcoin: A Comparison of Türkiye and Malaysia

2022-10-20T16:13:21+08:00

With technology development, investment tools also vary. Money and capital market instruments are at the forefront of these, and virtual currencies have become investment tools. Because virtual currencies are not religiously permissible by many organizations causes the devout people to stay away from them. This study investigates the return and volatility interaction between Islamic Indices and Bitcoin in Türkiye and Malaysia. The study uses weekly data for the period 24 November 2013 – 2 January 2022 obtained from investing.com. Multivariate Dynamic Conditional Correlation (DCC-GARCH) and multivariate dynamic stochastic volatility models were used to determine the volatility dispersion between Islamic indices and Bitcoin. Results show that the volatilities of Türkiye Islamic Index, Malaysia Hijrah Shariah Index and Bitcoin are permanent. Volatility of Bitcoin, however, has no effect on the return of the Türkiye Islamic Index and the Malaysian Hijrah Shariah Index. Likewise, the volatility of Islamic indices does not affect the return of Bitcoin. According to the results of the DC-MSV model, the volatility of Islamic indices and the volatility of Bitcoin do not affect each other. This indicates that Islamic index investors and Bitcoin investors differ.

Selecting the Best Theory to Explain the Formation of Different Universities Based on Sadra’s Philosophy

2022-09-01T22:53:05+08:00

In recent years, the role of universities in the development of societies has increased. In Iran, as in other countries, universities have made changes to their programs, but it still seems they need some new policies to strengthen the impact of universities on the development of society. While explaining the reasons for the formation of existing universities at the international level, this article attempts to use the framework of Sadra's philosophy to present a new type of university called “wisdom-oriented” university. This university activates the four functions as follows: Graduate education, Development of technology and technical knowledge, Problem-solving and communicating with society (such as industry, government institutions, etc.), and Producing and disseminating of knowledge content. If the wisdom-based university is formed and institutionalized, the following characteristics could be expected: “Avoidance of particularity”, “attention to comprehensiveness and gradual shift to specialization”, “scientific moderation and attention to wisdom”, “fostering creativity, production and accumulation of knowledge content”, “duty-oriented interaction with society”, “unbounded activity”, “continuous effort to come closer to God” and “optimal use of science and technology.”

Relationship between Food Prices and Non-Raw Materials Input: VAR Analysis

2023-01-23T18:52:51+08:00

Inflation is defined as the general increase in prices in the most general sense and is an important macroeconomic indicator. The increase in food prices is affected by the general inflation rate and it is an important indicator in determining the monetary policies implemented. In recent years, factors such as global crises, climate changes, foreign dependency in energy have sharpened the rises in national indicators. In this study, in Turkey, the effects of electricity-natural gas, Brent oil, dollar exchange rate and labor cost (minimum wage), which are the most important cost items in forming food prices, in the quarterly periods between 2003Q1-2022Q4 were analyzed. Vector Autoregression (VAR) model was used as the analysis method, the cointegration relationship between the variables can be accepted with a lagged value in the model and the error correction model is assumed to consist of an autoregressive distributed lag model. Literature review showed that external factors will affect food prices more as a hypothesis. According to the variance decomposition analysis results in the VAR model, the most important factors affecting food prices are exchange rate in the short run and Brent oil price in the long run. It has been observed that the minimum wage has the lowest effect. In the research, one limitation is that only factors such as electricity-natural gas, Brent oil, dollar exchange rate and labor cost were taken into account in evaluating impact on food prices, and other economic, social and climatic factors affecting agricultural production were not taken into account. In previous studies, the effects of factors such as electricity-natural gas, Brent oil price, dollar rate and labor cost on food prices were examined separately; this study contributes to determining which factor is more effective over the long and short term.

Practitioners' View on InsurTech Adoption Challenges in Pakistan: A Qualitative Content Analysis

2023-01-28T09:42:46+08:00

Pakistan is an agrarian economy with a booming Islamic financial system, but unlike other developing economies, it has a low share of insurance penetration. Literature has explored multiple dimensions of challenges along with their solutions within the insurance sector. This study proposes that it is the sluggish adoption of InsurTech that led to low insurance penetration. Hence this study is designed to identify different InsurTech adoption-related challenges in the Pakistan insurance industry. Past studies have explored the supply-side merits of InsurTech but overlooked the issues faced by the insurance industry in demanding and absorbing the available new technology. Many youth-led firms are offering the latest technologies for the industrial revolution in Pakistan. This links towards higher technology acceptability among the masses in the future and a possibility to transform the other lagging industries such as banking and insurance. Content analysis is applied to the previously recorded interviews of experts from the insurance industry to derive the themes validated using an independent rater using the interclass correlation coefficient. This study has identified the major InsurTech adoption issues faced by Pakistan's insurance sector practitioners. Academia and regulatory authorities can play a role in generating the industrial revolution output in this sector. The findings of the study are instrumental in developing a regulatory policy to foster InsurTech adoption and increase insurance penetration, which previous studies overlooked in the case of Pakistan.

Ethical Teachings of Abu Hamid Al-Ghazali: Economics of Happiness

2023-03-12T17:44:00+08:00