International Journal of Economics, Management and Accounting

Harnessing Innovation for Business Competitiveness in Achieving Sustainable Development Goals

Abdelhak Senadjki — 2026-06-28

This study examines the impact of technological, social, and environmental innovations on the competitiveness of Malaysian SMEs, focusing on how firm characteristics such as age, size, and type of activity moderate these effects. Data from 480 SMEs were analyzed using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling. The findings reveal that technological innovation positively impacts competitiveness, particularly when influenced by a firm’s age, size, and activity type. Social innovation also has a direct positive effect on competitiveness, highlighting its importance in addressing social problems to boost business performance. Environmental innovation, however, showed an insignificant effect on competitiveness. The study emphasizes the need for integrating business innovations with supportive infrastructure and fostering a culture of social and environmental innovation to enhance competitiveness. It provides valuable insights for strengthening SMEs and encourages a more holistic approach to innovation for long-term competitive advantage.

Diminishing Partnership as Solution to Turkey's Housing Crisis: An Analysis from Islamic Law Perspective

Abdullah Kahraman — 2026-06-28

The concept of decreasing musharakah or al-Musharakahtu'l-mutanaqisah involves a capital operation within a partnership, culminating in the transfer of ownership. Unlike traditional practices, this partnership model emerged in the 20th century and has since become a specialized arrangement in contemporary financial practices, notably within interest-free financial institutions or participation banks. In diminishing musharakah, the financial institution gradually reduces its share in the partnership until it is wholly transferred to the customer, who then assumes the role of managing partner. This arrangement aims at providing interest-free financing while generating profits for all involved parties, offering diverse banking services beyond permanent musharakah setups. It entails multiple individuals joining forces in an income-generating venture, with one party progressively acquiring the shares of others until they gain sole ownership through successive independent sales contracts. Diminishing musharakah is an alternative to conventional methods, particularly within interest-free financial institutions across industry, trade, agriculture, and tourism. This research investigates integrating diminishing partnership systems into Turkish housing finance, primarily through Ijarah-based diminishing musharakah financing methods, post the pandemic-induced housing crisis. The study identifies infrastructure, staff training, and product competitiveness as areas needing improvement in the participation banking sector, suggesting legal adjustments and regulatory frameworks for effective implementation. This research emphasizes the necessity of comprehensive legislative changes within Turkey's financial framework to accommodate diminishing partnership systems. It offers original insights and proposes legal amendments that uniquely contribute to participatory banking research. It presents a fresh perspective on home financing, promoting economic autonomy and housing market accessibility through innovative approaches.

Role of Households’ Religious Beliefs on the Iranian Households’ Utility Using Dynamic Stochastic General Equilibrium Model

Hamid Reza Izadi — 2026-06-28

Since Iran is one of the Muslim countries and in a Muslim country, religious teachings and thoughts play an important role in the consumption and the behavior of economics of households, so, by separating household consumption expenditures into two parts, halal and non-halal consumption expenditures, this article examines halal household consumption expenditures and the effect and share of these expenditures on the utility of community members using the Dynamic Stochastic General Equilibrium (DSGE) model. The findings show that religion and religious thoughts in Muslim-majority societies play an important and influential role in determining the share of the household consumption bundle, and the utility of this group of households is highly dependent on the share of household consumption expenditures on halal goods. The results indicate that religious and pious people manifest a kind of religious-social behavior based on their religious thoughts, which plays an important role in determining the composition and consumption bundle of the household, which in turn helps to improve the country's economy and expand its institutional capacities in eliminating poverty and optimizing the market.

Driving Factors Behind M-Commerce Acceptance: The Mediating Role of Intention

Moussa Barry — 2026-06-28

In recent decades, there has been substantial progress in the evolution of mobile commerce. This study, which delves into the impact of performance expectancy, effort expectancy, and perceived trust on accepting mobile commerce through intention, has significant implications for mobile commerce providers and organizations in Malaysia. The findings, derived from a two-phase structural equation modelling process and a convenience sampling method involving 390 survey questionnaires, reveal that perceived trust, performance expectancy, and effort expectancy substantially influence the intention to use mobile commerce. Furthermore, perceived trust indirectly influences the acceptance of mobile commerce through intention. Additionally, the acceptance of mobile commerce is greatly influenced by intention. The findings also demonstrated that the intention to accept mobile commerce fully mediates the relationship between perceived trust and the acceptance of mobile commerce. Therefore, these valuable findings can guide mobile commerce providers and organizations in their efforts to enhance mobile commerce adoption in Malaysia. These findings will significantly benefit scholars, researchers, marketers, and other individuals involved in the mobile commerce industry.

The Influence of Healthcare Service Quality and Hospital Reputation on Patient Loyalty: The Mediating Role of Patient Experience

Mirhamida Rahmah — 2026-06-28

This study explores how healthcare service quality, hospital reputation and brand, and patient experience influence patient loyalty, emphasizing the mediating role of patient experience. Control variables such as gender, education level, and type of health insurance were also considered. The research was conducted at a hospital in East Java and involved 165 inpatients aged 18 years and over. It was analyzed using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM). The findings reveal that patient experience is the strongest determinant of loyalty, followed by healthcare service quality, hospital reputation, and brand. Among the control variables, education level was found to have a significant impact on patient loyalty, whereas gender and type of health insurance had a limited effect. The analysis shows that hospital reputation and brand play a crucial role in shaping patient experience, which mediates the impact of both on patient loyalty. The model demonstrates strong predictive relevance, explaining variance in both patient experience and loyalty, indicating its robustness in capturing these dynamics. However, the cross-sectional design of the study and its focus on a single hospital limit the generalizability of the results and the ability to capture temporal changes. Future research should be conducted in multiple healthcare settings and adopt longitudinal designs to explore additional factors, such as socioeconomic and cultural influences. This research contributes to the field by emphasizing the importance of hospital reputation and brand, healthcare service quality, and educational level in fostering patient loyalty, and by providing actionable insights for improving patient-centered care through strategic enhancements to experience and service delivery.

The Moderation Effects of Task Complexity on Professional Skepticism, Inter-Agency Cooperation, and Tax Auditors’ Performance Relationship

Mohmad Hazar Ahmad — 2026-06-28

This study examines the influences of professional skepticism and inter-agency cooperation on tax auditors’ performance based on the attribution theory. Using expectancy theory, the research further explores the moderating effects of task complexity on the relationship between professional skepticism, inter-agency cooperation, and tax auditors’ performance. A quantitative approach was adopted, employing survey questionnaires distributed to tax auditors from the Inland Revenue Board of Malaysia (IRBM) and the Royal Malaysian Customs Department (RMCD). The data underwent analysis using IBM-SPSS-AMOS version 21 for Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) statistical analysis. The results reveal that both professional skepticism and inter-agency cooperation impact on tax auditors’ performance. Moreover, task complexity was found to moderate the relationships between professional skepticism, inter-agency cooperation, and tax auditors’ performance. It is important to note that this study focused solely on the influence of professional skepticism, inter-agency cooperation, and task complexity on tax auditors’ performance, without testing other internal and external factors. This study contributes to theoretical implications in the field of taxation, particularly within tax auditing, by offering empirical evidence on the effects of internal and external factors on tax auditors’ performance, along with the moderating influence of task complexity. The findings provide valuable insights for the IRBM and RMCD, emphasizing the significance of professional skepticism, inter-agency cooperation, and task complexity in enhancing tax auditors’ performance. Notably, the uniqueness of this study lies in the researchers’ exploration of the synergy between direct and indirect taxes to deepen the understanding of factors affecting tax auditors’ performance.

Influence of Trade War Sentiment on Stock Market and Bitcoin: A Wavelet Coherence Approach

Raja Solan Somasuntharam — 2026-06-28

The massive amount of information shared on social media regarding certain issues could influence user sentiments. This study examined the importance of users’ sentiments in Twitter platform regarding the trade war related to the S&P 500, MSCI China, and Bitcoin returns. The wavelet coherence method was utilized to examine the issue, which involved daily data observation spanning 4 March 2020 to 20 January 2021. The estimations revealed that users’ sentiments showed significant co-movement with the returns on S&P 500, MSCI China, and Bitcoin. The finding may be useful for both policymakers and investors in their efforts to create strategies to reduce market volatility, particularly in navigating through undesired future events. It can particularly assist investors in developing profitable investment strategies for volatile markets.

The Importance-Performance Map Analysis of Performance-Based Pay Management and Procedural Justice in Malaysian Government-Linked Company

Mohd Ridwan Abd Razak — 2026-06-28

Performance-based pay management (PBPM) is a strategic approach in human resource management to achieve organizational sustainability in a competitive business landscape. This research aimed at assessing the relationship between PBPM’s components (i.e. communication, participation, and performance evaluation) and procedural justice, and to evaluate the importance and performance of each element using Importance-Performance Map Analysis (IPMA). A cross-sectional approach was used to collect usable data through questionnaire survey on 400 employees from Malaysian Government-Linked Companies. SmartPLS software version 4 was used to analyze the survey data. Consistent PLS-SEM Bootstrapping analysis indicates three important findings. First, the relationship between communication and procedural justice was significant. Second, the relationship between participation and procedural justice was non-significant. Lastly, the relationship between performance appraisal and procedural justice was significant. Further, IPMA analysis indicates that performance evaluation is the most critical and well-executed component, followed by communication, and participation. This study provides empirical evidence on the importance of effective communication, participation, and systematic performance evaluation in managing performance-based pay to enhance employee perception of procedural justice. The findings of this study contribute significant insights to the theory, research methodology, practitioner, and social aspects of Performance-based Pay Management (PBPM).

Understanding Charity: The Market Model - Evidence from Malaysia

Mohd Nahar Mohd Arshad — 2026-06-28

This study theorizes a charity market model. Using the model, measure of necessities (daruriyyat) and charity equilibrium have been identified. The developed model offers a practical tool for policymakers to formulate policies regarding poverty eradication, minimum wage, and welfare programs. The proposed model is novel since it incorporates the third-sector economy, where charity (zakat and voluntary charity) is instrumental in empowering society to meet its needs. This study constructs and estimates a theoretical demand and supply model of cash charity, examining determinants such as income, age, education, gender, marital status, household size, location, and job types. The estimations identify the market clearing level of charity, offering a practical approach to determine the threshold level of income for basic needs fulfilment.

Exploring Mosques in Selangor: Their Role as Hubs for Local Economic Activities

Ahmad Akram Mahmad Robbi — 2026-06-28

Historically, mosques can function as centers for community economic development, drawing from their historical role dating back to Prophet Muhammad’s (sal-Allahu 'alayhi wa sallam) era. The study specifically investigates how mosques in Selangor are contributing to community sustainability through various microeconomic initiatives. By employing a qualitative study, the derivation of the primary data is based on in-depth interview and open-ended questions to obtain information regarding the execution of the mosque economic activities. The interview sessions were conducted with the mosques’ management within Selangor district. In addition, the secondary data were based on the library research which consist of analyzing books, journals, fatwas, websites as well as newspapers related to the contribution of mosques in facilitating social economy. The result indicates that the execution of the microeconomic-based mosque has impacted positive social economic activity among people who live in Selangor area. This turns the opportunities for the local people to get involved in small and medium entrepreneurship and reducing unemployment there. Also, the idea of developing the mosque as one stop center for the society to perform economic activities was highly recommended by the authorities. This finding demonstrates how mosques in Selangor can be effectively transformed into vital centers for community economic development. This study has the potential to be the pioneer in addressing the necessity of enlarging the role of the mosques as a centre of microeconomic development.