This study explores the benefits of business financial inclusion from the Islamic perspective in Nigeria by selecting Kano state as a case study.
Abstract
Purpose
This study explores the benefits of business financial inclusion from the Islamic perspective in Nigeria by selecting Kano state as a case study.
Design/methodology/approach
Primary data were generated through semi-structured interviews with experts who comprised professional accountants/consultants and experienced traders. Thematic analysis was applied to examine the data collected. In addition, observations were made in some selected stores and shops to complement the interview results.
Findings
The study finds that the benefits of business financial inclusion include recordkeeping improvement, reduction of the risks of bad debts, reduction of the risks associated with cash, enhancing business zakāh for poverty alleviation, sales improvement and business growth, getting supports from government and other development organizations and the provision of employment opportunities.
Research limitations/implications
This study is purely qualitative, and, as such, it has some limitations in terms of generalization.
Practical implications
The practical implication of this study is that the use of electronic payment methods, especially point of sales, enhances the business financial inclusion, which consequently maximizes their wealth and contributes to the reduction of poverty to the barest minimum in the society.
Social implications
The social implication of the findings is that businesses that are financially included are in a better position to discharge religious, philanthropic and other benevolent activities, such as zakāh, qard hasan, waqf and sadaqah, for the welfare of the ummah.
Originality/value
The study points out the benefits of financial inclusion not only to businesses but also to other members of the society at large.
Details
Keywords
This study describes and analyzes the output of academic research on the topic of social capital. The concept of social capital has attracted the interest of scholars from a range…
Abstract
Purpose
This study describes and analyzes the output of academic research on the topic of social capital. The concept of social capital has attracted the interest of scholars from a range of academic disciplines, and it has been applied to explain a variety of phenomena.
Design/methodology/approach
Using the bibliographic approach, I analyzed aggregate data obtained from the Web of Science database. The analyses were carried out using VOSviewer software.
Findings
The results show social capital to be a topic of interest in multiple fields of academic research. The findings highlight the important role that journals, including those from disciplines other than the social sciences, have played in divulging this concept, and show that some countries and institutions are more productive and engage in more collaborative research efforts than others.
Research limitations/implications
The main implications of this study regard research on social capital. The results demonstrate how social capital continues to interest scholars from a variety of academic disciplines. Future bibliometric research should include other sources (literature databases) and be expanded to consider other types of publication.
Originality/value
This paper furthers previous research by exclusively focusing on the concept of social capital. It analyzes the international trend in publications up until the end of 2021, thus expanding the publication period considered in previous studies. The results of this study highlight the relevance of bibliometric tools for assessing research performance.
Details
Keywords
The purpose of this paper is to explore the causes and impact of predatory online publishing on Islamic economics and finance.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore the causes and impact of predatory online publishing on Islamic economics and finance.
Design/methodology/approach
The method adopted involves a library literature scan to identify the origin and expansion of predatory publishing, as references listed in the paper show. The personal experience and observation of the author over the decades of teaching at various universities endorses the evidence.
Findings
The focus on “publish or perish” has led to division of Islamic scholars into conservative and modern economists, and it led to the overuse of mathematical and parametric modeling to the disadvantage of the discipline essentially imbued with unquantifiable ethical norms and values.
Practical implications
The study seeks to induce fruitful and purposive change in the research designs and direction of Islamic economics and finance.
Originality/value
This research initiates discussion on predatory publishing, an issue so far untouched in Islamic economics. It explores its impact on the discipline and suggests ways to curb the malady.