All Outputs (21)

Women's Political Empowerment, Economic Development, and Democracy around COVID-19: A cross-country analysis (2024)
Journal Article
Bitar, M., Peillex, J., Ouadghiri, I. E., & Obeid, H. (2024). Women's Political Empowerment, Economic Development, and Democracy around COVID-19: A cross-country analysis. Applied Economics, https://doi.org/10.1080/00036846.2024.2394698

We study the effect of Women's Political Empowerment (WPE) on COVID-19 contagion using a sample of 48 countries during the pandemic. We find that the number of COVID-19 cases is lower in countries with better WPE. Channels' analyses show that the eff... Read More about Women's Political Empowerment, Economic Development, and Democracy around COVID-19: A cross-country analysis.

Corruption and Bank Risk-Taking in Dual Banking Systems (2024)
Journal Article
Khan, M. H., Bitar, M., Tarazi, A., Hassan, A., & Fraz, A. (2024). Corruption and Bank Risk-Taking in Dual Banking Systems. Corporate Governance: An International Review, 32(6), 984-1015. https://doi.org/10.1111/corg.12579

Research Question/Issue: We investigate whether the risk-taking of Islamic banks is affected differently by corruption compared to conventional banks. We also examine whether the characteristics of the Shari'ah Supervisory Board (SSB) of Islamic bank... Read More about Corruption and Bank Risk-Taking in Dual Banking Systems.

Financial Analyst Coverage and Corporate Environmental Disclosure (2023)
Journal Article
Benlemlih, M., Bitar, M., El Ouadghiri, M., & Peillex, J. (2024). Financial Analyst Coverage and Corporate Environmental Disclosure. British Journal of Management, 35(3), 1609-1631. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8551.12776

Consistent with the monitoring function played by financial analysts, we find that greater analyst coverage leads to the same extent of improvement in the quantity and quality of environmental information disclosed by the firm. This result is remarka... Read More about Financial Analyst Coverage and Corporate Environmental Disclosure.

A cross-institutional exploratory investigation of COVID-19 spread: formal vs. informal institutions (2022)
Journal Article
Bitar, M., Peillex, J., & El Ouadghiri, I. (2022). A cross-institutional exploratory investigation of COVID-19 spread: formal vs. informal institutions. Applied Economics, https://doi.org/10.1080/00036846.2022.2125495

We investigate the effect of culture on COVID-19 spread using a sample of 67 countries over the first 10 months of the pandemic. We find that individualistic countries have higher number of COVID-19 cases, an effect that is independent from formal in... Read More about A cross-institutional exploratory investigation of COVID-19 spread: formal vs. informal institutions.

Individualism, formal institutional environments, and bank capital decisions (2022)
Journal Article
Bitar, M., & Tarazi, A. (2022). Individualism, formal institutional environments, and bank capital decisions. Journal of Corporate Finance, 76, Article 102244. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcorpfin.2022.102244

We examine how individualism affects bank capital decisions worldwide and in the United States at the state level. Based on a sample of 7034 banks in 68 countries, we establish three major findings. First, individualism is negatively and significantl... Read More about Individualism, formal institutional environments, and bank capital decisions.

A note on regulatory responses to COVID-19 pandemic: Balancing banks’ solvency and contribution to recovery (2022)
Journal Article
Bitar, M., & Tarazi, A. (2022). A note on regulatory responses to COVID-19 pandemic: Balancing banks’ solvency and contribution to recovery. Journal of Financial Stability, 60, Article 101009. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jfs.2022.101009

We discuss the implications on banks and the economy of prudential regulatory intervention to soften the treatment of non-performing exposures (NPEs) and ease bank capital buffers. We apply these easing measures on a sample of Globally Systemically I... Read More about A note on regulatory responses to COVID-19 pandemic: Balancing banks’ solvency and contribution to recovery.

New Evidence on the Relationship Between Corporate Social Responsibility and the Use of Equity Capital (2021)
Journal Article
Beniemlih, M., Bitar, M., Erragraui, E., & Peillex, J. (2021). New Evidence on the Relationship Between Corporate Social Responsibility and the Use of Equity Capital. Management International, 25(2), 200-217. https://doi.org/10.7202/1077792ar

In this paper, we study the reverse U-shaped relationship between Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and firms’ use of equity capital. Using a large sample of U.S. publicly listed companies, we provide strong evidence that CSR is positively associ... Read More about New Evidence on the Relationship Between Corporate Social Responsibility and the Use of Equity Capital.

Legal rules, information transparency and Islamic bank capital decisions (2021)
Journal Article
Bitar, M., Benlemlih, M., Erragragui, E., & Peillex, J. (2021). Legal rules, information transparency and Islamic bank capital decisions. Applied Economics, 53(53), 6184-6203. https://doi.org/10.1080/00036846.2021.1937497

To what extent does the formal institutional environment influence Islamic bank capital decisions? We answer this question by assessing the effect of the legal rule index on a sample of 100 Islamic banks in 28 countries from 1999 to 2013. Our econome... Read More about Legal rules, information transparency and Islamic bank capital decisions.

Basel Compliance and Financial Stability: Evidence from Islamic Banks (2020)
Journal Article
Bitar, M., Ben Naceur, S., Ayadi, R., & Walker, T. (2021). Basel Compliance and Financial Stability: Evidence from Islamic Banks. Journal of Financial Services Research, 60(1), 81-134. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10693-020-00337-6

We find that compliance with the Basel Core Principles (BCPs) has a strong positive effect on the stability of conventional banks, and a positive but less pronounced effect on the stability of Islamic banks. We also find that the main impact of compl... Read More about Basel Compliance and Financial Stability: Evidence from Islamic Banks.

Performance des banques islamiques vs banques conventionnelles : quelles exigences en matière de fonds propres réglementaires ? (2019)
Journal Article
Bitar, M., & Peillex, J. (2019). Performance des banques islamiques vs banques conventionnelles : quelles exigences en matière de fonds propres réglementaires ?. Revue Economique, 70(4), 495-537. https://doi.org/10.3917/reco.pr2.0134

Cet article propose de comparer les effets de divers ratios de fonds propres règlementaires fondés ou non sur la pondération des actifs par le risque sur la profitabilité et l'efficience de banques à la fois islamiques et conventionnelles. Pour ce fa... Read More about Performance des banques islamiques vs banques conventionnelles : quelles exigences en matière de fonds propres réglementaires ?.

Efficiency in Islamic vs. conventional banking: The role of capital and liquidity (2019)
Journal Article
Bitar, M., Pukthuanthong, K., & Walker, T. (2019). Efficiency in Islamic vs. conventional banking: The role of capital and liquidity. Global Finance Journal, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gfj.2019.100487

We show that higher capital and liquidity ratios increase the efficiency of conventional and Islamic banks. Using conditional quantile regressions, we further show that the effect is stronger for highly efficient, small, highly liquid, and highly cap... Read More about Efficiency in Islamic vs. conventional banking: The role of capital and liquidity.

Culture and the capital-performance nexus in dual banking systems (2019)
Journal Article
Bitar, M., Hassan, M. K., & Saad, W. (2020). Culture and the capital-performance nexus in dual banking systems. Economic Modelling, 87, 34-58. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.econmod.2019.07.003

While recent surveys have taken a special interest in culture to explain the failure of existing regulation, empirical evidence on the role of culture in influencing the regulation-performance link is still largely unexplored. In this paper, we ask t... Read More about Culture and the capital-performance nexus in dual banking systems.

Creditor rights and bank capital decisions: Conventional vs. Islamic banking (2018)
Journal Article
Bitar, M., & Tarazi, A. (2019). Creditor rights and bank capital decisions: Conventional vs. Islamic banking. Journal of Corporate Finance, 55, 69-104. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcorpfin.2018.11.007

© 2018 Elsevier B.V. Using a sample of banks operating in 24 countries, we provide robust evidence that stronger creditor rights are associated with higher capital adequacy ratios for conventional banks but not for Islamic banks. Such results suggest... Read More about Creditor rights and bank capital decisions: Conventional vs. Islamic banking.

The Performance of Islamic Vs. Conventional Banks: Evidence on the Suitability of the Basel Capital Ratios (2018)
Journal Article
Bitar, M., Hassan, M. K., Pukthuanthong, K., & Walker, T. (2018). The Performance of Islamic Vs. Conventional Banks: Evidence on the Suitability of the Basel Capital Ratios. Open Economies Review, 29(5), 1003-1038

This paper examines the effect of various types of bank capital on the profitability and efficiency of conventional and Islamic banks. Our results show that higher quality forms of capital improve the profitability and efficiency for both systems alt... Read More about The Performance of Islamic Vs. Conventional Banks: Evidence on the Suitability of the Basel Capital Ratios.

The contribution of market movements, asset allocation, and active management to Islamic equity funds' performance (2018)
Journal Article
Peilles, J., Erragragui, E., Bitar, M., & Benlemlih, M. (2019). The contribution of market movements, asset allocation, and active management to Islamic equity funds' performance. Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, 74, 32-38. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.qref.2018.03.013

© 2018 Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois Where the performance of Islamic equity funds (IEFs) comes from? Is it from market movements, asset allocation policy or from active portfolio management? Our study is the first to tackle this qu... Read More about The contribution of market movements, asset allocation, and active management to Islamic equity funds' performance.

Les banques islamiques sont-elles si islamiques que cela ? Conséquences en matière de fonds propres réglementaires (2017)
Journal Article
Bitar, M., & Madiès, P. (2017). Les banques islamiques sont-elles si islamiques que cela ? Conséquences en matière de fonds propres réglementaires. Revue d'Economie Financiere, 2017/1(125), 287-312. https://doi.org/10.3917/ecofi.125.0287

En théorie, les banques islamiques sont des institutions qui appliquent le concept de partage de profits et de pertes (PPP). Néanmoins, la littérature montre que, dans la pratique, les banques islamiques reposent essentiellement sur des opérations co... Read More about Les banques islamiques sont-elles si islamiques que cela ? Conséquences en matière de fonds propres réglementaires.

The determinants of Islamic bank capital decisions (2017)
Journal Article
Bitar, M., Hassan, M. K., & Hippler, W. J. (2017). The determinants of Islamic bank capital decisions. Emerging Markets Review, 35, 48-68. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ememar.2017.12.002

We report new evidence on the bank and institutional determinants of Islamic bank capital ratios in 28 countries between 1999 and 2013. Overall, we find that smaller, more profitable, and highly liquid Islamic banks are more highly capitalized. Addit... Read More about The determinants of Islamic bank capital decisions.

The effect of capital ratios on the risk, efficiency and profitability of banks: Evidence from OECD countries (2017)
Journal Article
Bitar, M., Pukthuanthong, K., Walker, T., & Molson, J. (2017). The effect of capital ratios on the risk, efficiency and profitability of banks: Evidence from OECD countries. Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, 53, 227-262. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.intfin.2017.12.002

Using a sample of 1,992 banks from 39 OECD countries during the 1999-2013 period, we examine whether the imposition of higher capital ratios is effective in reducing risk and improving the efficiency and profitability of banking institutions. We demo... Read More about The effect of capital ratios on the risk, efficiency and profitability of banks: Evidence from OECD countries.

Political systems and the financial soundness of Islamic banks (2017)
Journal Article
Bitar, M., Hassan, M. K., & Walker, T. (2017). Political systems and the financial soundness of Islamic banks. Journal of Financial Stability, 31, 18-44. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jfs.2017.06.002

We investigate whether and how political systems affect the financial soundness of conventional and Islamic banks. Using factors extracted from principal component analysis, we find that Islamic banks underperform their conventional counterparts in m... Read More about Political systems and the financial soundness of Islamic banks.

Bank risk and performance in the MENA region: The importance of capital requirements (2016)
Journal Article
Bitar, M., Saad, W., Benlemlih, M., & O'brien, D. (2016). Bank risk and performance in the MENA region: The importance of capital requirements. Economic Systems, 40(3), 397-421. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecosys.2015.12.001

This paper benefits from various risk-and non-risk-based regulatory capital ratios and examines their impact on bank risk and performance in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. Our findings suggest that compliance with Basel capital requi... Read More about Bank risk and performance in the MENA region: The importance of capital requirements.