Since Malaysia is heading towards being a global Halal hub, this research is very crucial to give ideas on the receptions of Muslim consumers towards Halal branding. The objectives of the research are to measure the awareness of consumers towards Halal products particularly in the food product line, to determine whether the Halal logo has any influence in consumer purchase decision, to determine whether religion has any influence in purchasing Halal food products, to identify the relationship between brand image and the existence of Halal logo with the customer's purchase decisions, and to identify the relationship between price and the existence of Halal logo with the customer's purchase decision. A survey was conducted on selected 1075 samples from Johor, Malacca, Selangor, Negeri Sembilan, Kuala Lumpur, Perak, Penang, and Pahang. In terms of research tools, the researchers use descriptive analysis to analyze the frequency of each variable, factor analysis to reduce the number of variables and to detect structure in the relationship between the variables or to classify the variables, mean to measure the awareness of consumers towards halal products. For further analysis this study applied the Chi-square to determine whether the Halal certification has any influence in consumer purchase decision. ANOVA is used to determine whether religion has any influence in purchasing Halal food products. A correlation analysis is being done to analyze the relationship between variables such as brand image and price and the existence of Halal certification with the customer's purchase decisions. One significant finding is that the respondents agree that Halal products are for everybody and not only confined to Muslims consumption. Apart from that, they also believe that the Halal certification should not only be given to companies owned by Bumiputera. On the manufacturers' side, they have to improve the quality, design and packaging as well as adding values to their current products. On the government side, they have impose stricter regulation regarding Halal certification and also make grants available to Muslim entrepreneurs in terms of product development.

This paper aims to conceptualize the relationship between audit committee (AC) characteristics and earnings management (EM). It hypothesizes that political instability moderates the relationship between the two variables. The paper bridges the knowledge gap by proposing a conceptual framework related to AC characteristics, EM, and political instability. This article reviews recent literature on CG and EM to understand how AC characteristics may mitigate EM practices. Moreover, it illustrates the effect of political instability on managers’ engagement in EM. Evidence from prior studies suggests that AC is an important part of the firm’s structure and responsible for monitoring financial information quality in financial reports. It is argued that an effective AC can reduce EM levels. During periods of intense political instability, managers are motivated to engage in high levels of EM to enhance their companies’ financial performance. This paper argues that a more effective AC will deter the opportunistic behaviors of managers to engage in EM.

The purpose of this study is to review the Islamic microfinance model that best suited the bottom of the wealth pyramid (B20) communities in Malaysia. Islamic microfinance products and services that are friendly to the B20 communities are crucial to ensure they are not lacking behind from the current development where everybody has access to the financial services. Most current Islamic microfinance products use debt-based financing that similar to the banking products. These products are not suitable to the B20 communities because it creates debt and burdens them to pay back the financing. Therefore, this paper reviews the potential of equity-based financing models that suit to the B20 communities. The findings reveal that equity-based financing via musharakah mutanaqisah seeing as the innovative Islamic microfinance model that suit to the B20 communities compares to debt-based financing.

Research aims: The article aims to describe corporate governance (CG) characteristics and the extent of earnings management (EM) practices in non-financial firms listed on the Palestine Exchange from 2011 to 2018. Design/Methodology/Approach: The study employed the quantitative methodology. Collected data were summarized quantitatively using descriptive analysis with STATA 14. CG data were retrieved manually from published annual financial reports, while financial data for the EM calculation were collected from Thomson ONE. Research findings: Listed non-financial firms in Palestine only moderately complied with the Palestinian Code of Corporate Governance. Some Palestinian firms have also established an audit committee, one of the most important corporate governance mechanisms. Theoretical contribution/Originality: The findings provide insight into CG and EM in Palestine for regulators and policymakers. Practitioner/Policy implication: The results can assist policymakers in strengthening existing regulations and updating the current code of CG or introducing new policies to mitigate EM.

Mobile payments are a new financial technology-based payment method that allows users to conduct payments via smartphones has become relevant over the past decade in developed and developing countries. Various determinants affect user behaviour toward accepting mobile payments. Hence, identifying the determinants influencing mobile payment adoption remains crucial and needs to be refined and scrutinised to remain relevant to the current situation. Therefore, this study synthesises literature from 2010 to 2021 on mobile payment adoption among users using the PRISMA approach, including identification, screening, and eligibility. Articles are identified through databases such as SCOPUS, Web of Science, Science Direct, Google Scholar, and Mendeley. 953 articles are screened according to the exclusion and inclusion criteria, and duplication matters. Finally, only 67 complete articles were selected for further synthesis and analysis. Applying a thematic analysis using ATLAS ti.8, three sub-themes were coded— personal, environment and barriers, to categorise the determinants. A study found that innovation is the most frequently examined personal factor, relative advantage and ease of use are the most frequently evaluated environmental factors, and perceived risk has also been the most frequently examined barrier influencing mobile payment adoption a decade ago. This review applied PRISMA is needed to help researchers extend past research to examine further current trends that determine the factors influencing mobile payment adoption. In addition, this review's findings can help stakeholders formulate effective strategies for mobile payment services.

The tourism industry has various impacts on the economy. It contributes to sales. profits, employment. tax revenue, and income. Tourism is fast becoming Malaysia's second-largest foreign exchange earner, after the manufacturing sector. Tourism receipts contributed 46% to total services receipts between 2002 and 2008, generating a surplus in the services account of Malaysia's balance of payments. This paper focuses on changes in the output of and imports and value added to the economy resulting from the tourism industry in Malaysia. An open input-output model of tourist impact analysis will be adopted to determine the multiplier effects of each Ringgit Malaysia spent on the output of and imports and value added to the economy. This paper attempts to prove that differences in the expenditure profile among classes of tourists and the changing composition of tourists arriving in Malaysia have important implications for possible policy responses to the economy.

Since Malaysia is heading towards being a global Halal hub, this study is very crucial to give ideas on the receptions of Muslims consumers towards Halal branding. The objective of the research is to measure the awareness of consumers towards Halal products particularly in the food industry. The study tries to identify the factors that contribute to Halal branding using factor analysis. Consumer's data were collected based on 1075 samples from all states in Malaysia. The findings show that there are 11 factors that could contribute to Halal Branding awareness which are promotion, place, attractive and quality, Halal certification, price, product samples, market demand, SME producers, Halal certification to Muslim companies, differences between Halal certified and non-Halal certified and clean operation. Further analysis using the logistic regression found that there are six factors contribute significantly to the importance of Halal branding. The factors are attractive and quality, Halal certification, market demand, SME producers, different between Halal certified and non-certified, and clean operation.

This paper studies financing mechanisms used by waqf institutions in Malaysia and Singapore in developing various type of waqf properties. In Malaysia, the duty of managing and developing waqf assets is under the jurisdiction of state government through State Islamic Religious Councils (SIRCs). The problem of getting enough funds and inefficient staffs has hindered the development of a large number of waqf assets especially land waqf. In addition to traditional mode of financing such as long lease (hukr), modern scheme and self-financing have been used by the authority to develop waqf properties. Interestingly, the development of waqf assets in Singapore is encouraging especially after the establishment of Warees Pte. Ltd.: a subsidiary of Singapore Islamic Religious Council (MUIS). The source of financing is mainly generated through cash waqf contributed monthly by Muslims in Singapore. Besides that, modern a modern mode of financing such as sukuk musyarakah has been introduced in developing commercial buildings in waqf land. This paper compares the financing methods adopted to develop waqf properties in Malaysia and Singapore. Recommendations are made as to the best form of financing that can be adopted in developing waqf properties in Malaysia.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the role of political instability in the context of the association between board of directors (BOD) and audit committee (AC) quality as indicators of corporate governance effectiveness and earnings management (EM). The non-financial listed companies on the Palestine Exchange (PEX) between the period from 2011 to 2018 were the samples of the study. Based on the OLS regression results by using a panel data of 232 observations, the findings show that the BOD quality is positively related to EM, while AC quality is negatively associated with EM. The results also reveal that political instability plays a moderating role by weakening the relationship between the AC quality and EM during the severe unstable political situation, while the BOD quality is negatively associated with EM under the same situation. This finding implies that the BODs might substitute ACs under severe political instabilities to protect the stockholders and stakeholders’ interests. Unlike most previous studies, this article addresses political instability as a moderating variable for the relationship between the BOD and AC quality as a composite measure of EM in the most emerging and smallest stock market in the region. The results of this work may assist the regulatory bodies, policymakers, and practitioners in revising the corporate governance code to promote the efficiency of the BOD and AC monitoring functions for the purpose to improve the faithfulness and reliability of financial reports and also to deter the management from engaging in critical levels of EM.

The purpose of this study is to review the Islamic microfinance model that best suit the bottom of the wealth pyramid (B20) communities. Islamic microfinance products and services that are friendly to the B20 communities are crucial to ensure they are not lacking behind from the current development where everybody has access to financial services. Most current Islamic microfinance products use debt-based financing that similar to banking products. These products not suitable to the B20 communities because it creates debt and burdens them to pay back the financing. This paper reviews past literature to determine the Islamic microfinance model through Scopus, Google Scholar, and ResearchGate platform. The search criteria are confined to English documents that are within the period of 2000-2020. Articles that did not score or did not convince that the subject of Islamic microfinance has been applied in the Islamic economy, Islamic finance, Islamic financing products, and economic development are excluded. Appropriate search keys are used to get better results. The findings inform that contemporary scholars show a robust commitment to the themes of the result during the stated period. Equity-based financing via musharakah mutanaqisah is seen as the innovative Islamic microfinance model that suits the B20 communities compare to debt based financing.

The purpose of this study is to investigate and validate the determinants of profit margins and pricing practices of Islamic banking institutions in Malaysia. The key determinants and pricing approaches were extracted using a verbal protocol followed by probing of respondents. Focus group interviews were conducted with Islamic banking experts from Bank Muamalat Malaysia Berhad, CIMB Islamic Bank Berhad, Bank Islam Malaysia Berhad and Maybank Islamic Berhad. Preliminary analysis suggested some distinct outcomes in the identification of determinants and practices in pricing and bank margins for future research. This study has provided important insights for Islamic banks to improve their bank margins and profit by considering significant variables affecting profitability. Generally, the themes which emerged from the interviews concurred with findings from literature. However, the determinants that have yet to be captured in the literature are marketing strategies which include product risk, financing terms and conditions; and discretionary power. Awareness of Islamic banking products and cost of fund strategies are other important determinants of bank margins and profitability. This paper also has the potential to enhance bank margin determinants, concept, theory and practice.

Allah forbade financial fraud in verse 29 in Al-Nisa’a Surah. This verse considered as evidence to constrain managers in engaging in earnings management (EM) and a command to mitigate the conflict between owners themselves to prevent EM. The objective of this paper is to investigate the role of political instability on the relationship between ownership structure (OS) and EM in the Palestinian context. By revering the prior literatures, the political circumstances influence the formation of OS. Agency theory and political theory were used to develop the hypotheses. Accordingly, it can be observed that OS and EM practices affected by political instability particularly in Palestine. Unlike most of the previous literatures on the developing countries, this study uses the political instability as a moderating variable to investigate the relationship between OS and EM in Palestine which is characterized by high level of political instability.

This paper analyzes the repayment performance in microfinance programs in Malaysia that apply individual lending approach. The research framework of this study is built by four factors namely individual/borrower factors, firm/business factors, loan factors and institutional/lender factors as independent variables and repayment performance either paid on time, delinquent and default as dependent variables. The study used a mixed-method combining between quantitative and qualitative data through questionnaire survey, in-depth interviews, published and unpublished reports. The data of this study is gathered from 401 respondents in Peninsular Malaysia through multistage random sampling. The data is analysed by descriptive analysis and multinomial logit model. Meanwhile, for qualitative data, a total of 21 respondents (7 respondents who paid on time, 7 respondents who delinquent and 7 respondents who default) were selected randomly and structured interviews with 6 MFI’s State Managers. The results show that in terms of borrower characteristics, only micro entrepreneur’s religious education level is statistically significant in the relationship between delinquent and good borrowers and between default and good borrowers. Whereas, in firm/business characteristics, the result shows that distance, business formality and total sales are statistically significant. The finding shows that total loan received, loan type and repayment schedule are the loan characteristics that affect micro entrepreneur’s loan repayment. In terms of institutional/lender characteristics, the finding shows that loan monitoring is statistically significant in the relationship between delinquent and good borrowers. This study contributes significantly to the knowledge of microfinance program at large, wherein it explains the factors affecting repayment performance and repayment performance plays an important role to ensure that MFIs can continue providing microfinance to the micro entrepreneurs without depending on subsidies. KEYWORDS: Repayment Performance, Individual Lending, Microfinance, Malaysia

Social finance is not new, but most low-income earners are not keen to utilize social finance products due to its association with riba (usury). Islamic social finance on the other hand offers the alternative to generate economy and create wealth, with its Shariah-compliant underlying principles. This new mechanism offers the alternative for people under the paradigm of Islamic economic system. This instrument covers the deficiency of Islamic finance, in both ijtimai�e and tijari sectors. Thus, it is crucial to the stages involved in the creation of Shariah-compliant products that can meet the objectives of ijtimai�e and tijari sectors. The main objective of this paper is to review the concept and paradigm of Islamic economic system and the position of Islamic social finance. It also reviews the product development and innovation of this mechanism. The methodology used for this is qualitative in nature, namely content analysis of the secondary sources of similar themes. It was found that there is very limited discussion on product development in Islamic social finance.

The purpose of this study is to review the Islamic microfinance model that best suited the bottom of the wealth pyramid (B20) communities in Malaysia. Islamic microfinance products and services that are friendly to the B20 communities are crucial to ensure they are not lacking behind from the current development where everybody has access to the financial services. Most current Islamic microfinance products use debt-based financing that similar to the banking products. These products are not suitable to the B20 communities because it creates debt and burdens them to pay back the financing. Therefore, this paper reviews the potential of equity-based financing models that suit to the B20 communities. The study reviews past literature obtained from scholarly databases including Web of Sciences, Scopus, and Google Scholar. In addition, data from microfinance providers are also collected through their website, news published, and bulletin. The findings reveal that equity-based financing via musharakah mutanaqisah seeing as the innovative Islamic microfinance model that suit to the B20 communities compares to debt-based financing.

Households’ socio-economic outcomes are considered a significant component of sustainable development. In this regard, public and private organizations are constantly devising several microfinance and development strategies to tackle economic deprivation. There exists a conflict in the literature regarding the role of such a strategy in enhancing households’ socio-economic outcomes. In addition, researchers are also struggling to identify crucial factors that could improve poor households’ socio-economic performance. However, the lack of established measuring instruments for various microfinance and households’ socio-economic factors is the major hurdle in conducting quality research. Hence, this study intends to develop and validate measurements for microfinance and households’ socio-economic model. By employing an Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) and Parallel Analysis as factor retention techniques, this research provides measuring constructs for microfinance financial services, business coaching, training programs, microfinance institutions’ efficiency, households’ entrepreneurial competencies, households’ financial management practices, and households’ socio-economic performance. Based on the results, it is proved that the developed instrument of the microfinance and households’ economic model is valid and reliable to be used in future related research.

The study aimed to determine the historical development of Readiness for Change Of Human Resources in Health Organizations from the initial findings to current developments and future readiness for change in human and organizational resources. The study administered a systematic review of approximately 100 journals on readiness for change human and organizational resources. The findings from the development of readiness for change human and organizational resources referred to a review of readiness for change human and organizational resources development from several points of view, including a review of factors that influence the readiness of changes in human resources and organizations both internally and externally in Health Organization. In addition, the change readiness assessment is to examine the level of readiness of conditions organizational commitment is a psychological attachment between an employee and his organization. Another external factor that affects readiness to face change is the psychological climate.

Islamic finance industry has grown rapidly and recognized not only to the Muslims but also attracted non-Muslim to use it. However, Islamic finance industry is dominated by the Islamic banking and Takaful and Islamic capital and money market. The participation of non-bank financial institutions such as Islamic cooperative and Islamic microfinance in Islamic finance is still limited compare to the customers of these institutions. The participation of Islamic non-bank financial institutions is expected to increase the contribution of Islamic finance and competition with conventional finance.