This paper aims to develop a holistic framework for the Maqasid al-Shariah in Responsible Investment (MSRI) index for selected publicly listed companies in the Malaysian capital market. To test the validity of the MSRI framework, a sample of 30 publicly listed companies from 2021 was selected using purposive sampling. The framework consists of eight themes with forty-five elements to evaluate companies based on their annual reports, sustainability reports, and public disclosures. The scores are classified into three categories: Shariah compliant, Shariah non-compliant, and Hajiyyat. Out of the 30 selected companies, the summary of MSRI scores concludes that twenty (20) companies were identified as Shariah compliant, while the remaining four (4) were classified as Shariah non-compliant, and six (6) as Hajiyyat. Overall, the results of the analyses show that the sustainability of the company and society has a higher percentage than the wealth preservation of companies. This research differs substantially from prior work by offering a novel approach that develops a holistic framework integrating Maqasid al-Shariah with elements of responsible investment. This study believes it can provide valuable guidance for formulating Islamic investment public policy for selected investment portfolios.

By reviewing US state-level panel data on infrastructure spending and on per capita income inequality from 1950 to 2010, this paper sets out to test whether an empirical link exists between infrastructure and inequality. Panel regressions with fixed effects show that an increase in the growth rate of spending on highways and higher education in a given decade correlates negatively with Gini indices at the end of the decade, thus suggesting a causal effect from growth in infrastructure spending to a reduction in inequality through better access to education and opportunities for employment. More significantly, this relationship is more pronounced with inequality at the bottom 40 percent of the income distribution. In addition, infrastructure expenditures on highways are shown to be more effective at reducing inequality. By carrying out a counterfactual experiment, the results show that those US states with a significantly higher bottom Gini coefficient in 2010 had underinvested in infrastructure during the previous decade. From a policy-making perspective, new innovations in finance for infrastructure investments are developed, for the US, other industrially advanced countries and also for developing economies.

This study uses a Time-Varying Parameter Stochastic Volatility Vector Autoregression (TVP-SV-VAR) model to conduct an empirical analysis of the dynamic effects of China’s stock market volatility on the agricultural loan market and its channels. The results show that the relationship between stock market and agricultural loan market volatility is time varying and is always positive. The investor sentiment is a major conduit through which the effect takes place. This time-varying effect and transmission mechanism are most apparent between 2011 and 2017 and have since waned and stabilized. These have significant implications for the stable and orderly development of the agricultural loan market, highlighting the importance of the sound financial market system and timely policy, better market monitoring and early warning system and the formation of a mature and sound agricultural credit mechanism.

Given the issues of urban-rural educational inequality and difficulties for children from poor families to succeed, this study explores the impact mechanism of internet usage on rural educational investment in China within the context of the digital divide. Using data from the 2019 China Household Finance Survey (CHFS), this study analyzed the educational investment decisions of 2064 rural households. Results indicate that in the Eastern region, a high level of educational investment is primarily influenced by the per capita income of the family, with social capital and internet usage also playing supportive roles. In the Northeastern region, the key factor is the diversity of internet usage, specifically using both a smartphone and a computer. In the Central region, factors such as the diversity of internet usage, subjective risk attitudes, the appropriate age of the household head, and per capita income of the family contribute to higher levels of educational investment. In the Western region, the dominant factors are the diversity of internet usage, subjective usage and per capita income of the family. These factors enhance expected returns on the high level of educational investment and boost farmers’ confidence. High internet usage rates significantly promote diverse and stable educational investment decisions, providing evidence for policymakers to bridge the urban-rural education gap.

Islamic banking is one of the fastest-growing sectors of the financial industry. Several works have been written in this field, but none attempt to learn the entire Islamic banking and financial system. Furthermore, the study could not locate any publications investigating the conceptual and intellectual foundations of this emerging field of inquiry. The current study uses bibliometric methodologies to assess the current state of Islamic banking, financial research, and the upcoming trends. For the people who choose interest-free investments, the current research examines a conceptual research context on Islamic banking and finance at various planning and decision-making stages. One thousand research studies appearing in scholarly journals between 2005 and 2023 were reviewed for the purpose. In order to examine the works on Islamic banking and finance, bibliometric techniques were used, including analysis of citation network, content, co-citation, keyword, and publishing trends. By suggesting thirteen clusters, to enhance research on Islamic banking and finance to help interest-free investors learn more, the goal of the research is to promote the body of knowledge. The field of Islamic banking and finance has grown from a young lot to a prominent teaching and research tool. Investigating and identifying current research trends in this area is crucial. As institutions and society are placing more emphasis on Islamic banking to raise individual citizens’ responsibilities in developing interest-free investing strategies, the findings are crucial to the community of interest-free financiers. Further research urges with the studies not restricted to a thousand researches only.

Agriculture is an industry that plays an essential role in economic development towards eliminating poverty issues, but foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows to this sector remain modest in Vietnam. This study analyzed the determinants of foreign direct investment in the agricultural sector into the Southern Key Economic Zone (KEZ) of Vietnam, which is considered the foreign direct investment magnet of Vietnam, but its FDI inflows into the agricultural sector have been consistently low, and has shown a downward trend in recent years. The study was based on a sample of 129 foreign investors of a total of 164 multinational enterprises (MNEs) in the agricultural sector, including representatives of the Board of Directors and representatives at the department level. The Partial Least Squares Structural Equation modeling (PLS-SEM) approach was used to test the hypotheses. Findings indicated that FDI attraction policies have the strongest impact on FDI inflows. This was followed by infrastructure, regional agriculture policies, public service quality, natural conditions, and human resources. This study suggests policy recommendations to improve foreign direct investment inflows into the agricultural sector of the Southern Key Economic Zone (KEZ) of Vietnam.