Moazzam Farooq
| Date of PhD defense: | 16 September 2011 |
| Title of thesis: | Essays on Financial Intermediation and Markets |
| ISBN: | 978 90 5668 294 1 |
| Promotores: | Prof.dr. Luc Renneboog Dr. Lieven Baele |
Abstract:
Essays on Financial Intermediation and Markets’ is a collection of four studies in the field of financial intermediation and markets. Following the financial crisis, there has been a renewed interest in Islamic banking. This interest was accompanied by an influx of practitioner and academic literature on the subject. More importantly, new empirical work has emerged that sheds light on the empirical validation of theory that existed long before and various aspects of Islamic banking as it is practiced. The first two essays explore this area with the aim to further our understanding of the dynamics of Islamic banking. The first essay provides an analytical overview of Islamic banking products and documents a survey of empirical literature on Islamic banking. The second essay compares default rates on conventional and Islamic loans using a comprehensive monthly dataset from Pakistan that follows more than 150,000 loans. This essay investigates if the product, bank or borrower characteristics can explain different default rates for Islamic and conventional loans and if religion – either through individual piousness or network effects – may play a role in determining loan default. The third essay studies interest rate pass-through in selected Sub-Saharan African countries and links the speed of pass-through to the ongoing financial reforms. The fourth and final essay analyses the contribution of a Financial Constraint factor in explaining cross-sectional variation in expected stock returns in G-7 countries and attempts to relate this factor to the differences in GDP growth rates and the development of banking sector and equity market.
Global / English