With contributions from leading scholars, this unique Handbook provides chapters examining a range of phenomena in Islamic finance, focusing on five main research areas: religion and growth, Islamic social finance, Islamic banking and finance, the Islamic capital market and sukuk (Islamic bonds).

Contents: 1. Introduction Part I: Religion and Growth: 1. Social Preferences and Values: An Experimental Analysis for Religiosity Anwar Shah, Karim Khan and Hayat Khan 2. Openness, Culture, Legal Environment and Islamic Finance Kaouthar Gazdar, Rihab Grassa and M. Kabir Hassan 3. Islamic Finance in Movement: Public Opinion in the Arab Region Clement Henry Part II: Islamic Social Finance: 4. Evaluating The Impact of Zakat by Indicator of Disaggregated Human Development Index: An Empirical Finding Mohamad Soleh Nurzaman 5. Poverty, Finance and Institutions: Evidence from OIC Countries Muhammad Tariq Majeed 6. The Social and Cultural Impact on Firms’ Access to Finance in an Islamic Environment Charilaos Mertzanis 7. Reporting of Zakat and Charitable Activities in Islamic Banks: Theory and Practice in a Multi-cultural Setting Mamunur Rashid, M. Kabir Hassan, How Shi Min and G.M. Wali Ullah 8. Achieving Sustainable Economic Development through Islamic Microfinance and Potential of proposed Two Tier Mudarabah Waqf Business Model Mohammad Ashraf Mobin and Abu Umar Faruq Ahmad 9. Can Islamic Banking Increase Financial Inclusion? Sami Ben Naceur, Adolfo Barajas and Alexander Massara 10. Social tax and transfers for poverty alleviation: A case for low and middle income countries Nasim Shah Shirazi and Anas Zarka Part III: Islamic Banking and finance 11. The Impact of the Global Financial Crisis on Islamic Banking Faisal Alqahtani and David G. Mayes 12. Country Governance and the Performance of Islamic and Conventional Banks: International Evidence Fadzlan Sufian, M. Kabir Hassan, Fakarudin Kamarudin and Annuar Md. Nassir 13. How Institutions Shape the Gap in Efficiency between Islamic and Conventional Banks Laurent Weill 14. Differences between Islamic and Conventional Finance in Malaysia Olga Krasicka and Sylwia Nowak 15. On the Co-existence of Conventional and Islamic Banks: Do These Banks Differ in Business Structure Sajjad Zaheer and Moazzam Farooq 16. Macroeconomic Shocks and Islamic Bank Behavior in Turkey Ahmet Faruk Aysan, Mustafa Disli, Adam Ng and Huseyin Ozturk 17. Explaining Intermediation Costs of Islamic Banks in OIC Countries Nurhafiza Abdul Kader Malim, Mansor H. Ibrahim and Mohamed Eskandar Shah Mohd Rasid 18. Liquidity Risk Management in Emerging and Islamic Markets in Post Financial Crisis in Gulf Cooperation Council Mazin A.M. Al Janabi 19. How Efficient are the Commercial, Investment and Islamic Bank Managers in Jordan Ihsan Isik, Mohammed Omran and M. Kabir Hassan Part IV: Islamic Capital Market 20. Does Islamic investment accrue hedging benefits? Dawood Ashraf and Mohsin Khawaja 21. Volatility forecasting, value-at-risk and expected shortfall estimations under Basel II accord in GCC Sharia stocks Chaker Aloui, M. Kabir Hassan and Hela ben Hamida, 22. Do stock returns react to an Islamic label Raphie Hayat and Celia de Anca 23. Taking a Leap of Faith: Are Investors Left Short Changed? Yunieta A. Nainggolan, Janice C.Y. How and Peter Verhoeven 24. Quantitative Studies of Islamic and Conventional Assets Shumi Akhtar and Maria Jahromi 25. Profit-Sharing Ratio as a Screening Device in Venture Capital Meryem Mehri, Kaouther Jouaber-Snoussi and M. Kabir Hassan 26. On the dependency structure of Islamic assets Mahmoud Bekri, M. Kabir Hassan and Nafis Alam 27. Malaysian Investors’ perspectives on the integration and Co-movement of Islamic Stock Markets in Developed and Developing Countries Marjan Naseri, Syed Othman Alhabshi and Mansur Masih 28. A Wavelet approach to time-scale relationships among the Islamic and conventional stock markets and LIBOR AbdelKader O. el Alaoui, Ginanjar Dewandaru, Obiyathulla Bacha and Mansur Masih Part V: Sukuk (Islamic Bonds) 29. Testing the Financial Distress Prediction Model for Sukuk-Issuing Companies In Malaysia Roslina Mohamad Shafi, Sharifah Raihan Syed Mohd Zain, Mohamed Eskandar Shah Mohd Rasid and Ahamed Kameel Mydin Meera 30. The Economic and Political Determinants of Depth and Strength in Sukuk Markets Mehmet Asutay and Ercument Aksak Index

'Kabir Hassan presents an impressive collection of more than 30 empirical studies on a wide spectrum of Islamic finance issues. The authors apply state-of-the-art methods of quantitative research and produce a wealth of fresh and often surprising results. Finance practitioners, policy makers and regulators can benefit from the findings, and Islamic as well as conventional researchers can get references and inspiration for further studies.'