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The ongoing digital transformation is shaping the Islamic mode of financial intermediation and the impact on the faith-based financial mode has been multifaceted. This has raised a host of interesting questions: what is the degree of penetration of Islamic finance in the fintech industry? Are Islamic financial institutions (IFIs) or banks ready to embrace fintech? Is fintech an enabler or barrier to achieve the intended purpose of Islamic finance? Will technology narrow the division between Islamic and conventional finance in the future? These are existential questions for Islamic finance and the book endeavors to examine the impact of financial technology on the industry. The book assesses various fintech business models and how they could be a threat or an opportunity. It also examines whether fintech provides IFIs an edge to serve clients following the Shariah norms and how the adoption of fintech in the Islamic mode is required for meeting the maqasid Al Shariah. The book discusses applicability of fintech like blockchain, digital currency, big data, and AI to different branches of Islamic finance. This book will interest students, analysts, policymakers, and regulators who are working on Islamic finance, financial economics, Islamic economics, and development finance.

We draw upon the broader theoretical framework of rent‐seeking to empirically analyze the impact of corruption on the efficiency of the banking industry in the Gulf Cooperation Council. We have used various databases, including Bankscope, World Bank, and Transparency International, to gather Bank‐specific and macro‐economic data for 77 banks covering the period 2005–2014. We perform ordinary least square (OLS) and generalised methods of moments regression (GMM) using a balanced panel and find (1) Islamic banks as less efficient and stable as compared to conventional banks in the GCC region, (2) corruption has a negative (positive) impact on Islamic (conventional) banks' stability. Our findings provide support for the 'sand the wheel' hypothesis of corruption for Islamic banks. This finding supports the view that under the current weak governance structures and complex policy framework, corruption acts as an 'escape hatch' for conventional banks. Our empirical findings could pave the way for further policy reform for the banking sector in the GCC region.

Frontmatter -- Contents -- Contributors -- Foreword -- Preface: An Unequal World -- Part 1: Poverty and Development: A Global Perspective -- 1. Social Distribution of and Access to Ecosystem Services: Approaches for the Alleviation of Socioenvironmental Inequalities -- 2. The Climate Change– Migration Nexus Seen Through the Lens of the European Union: Analysis of Legal and Policy Frames -- 3. Dangers of Uncontrolled Urbanisation for Society: Selected Aspects -- 4. Nutrition Insecurity in a Developed World: Challenges for Health Promotion and Further Directions for Sustainable Development -- 5. The Internalisation of Tourism Externalities: Methods and Instruments -- 6. Slow Tourism: A Community-based Approach for Sustainable Development -- 7. Agritourism and Ecotourism as an Innovative Direction for Sustainable Rural Development -- 8. Causal Nexus between a Sustainable Economy and Agricultural Credit: Global Evidence -- Part 2: Poverty and Development: A Local Perspective -- 9. Measuring Sustainable Development: A Quantitative Evaluation of Sustainable Development in Vietnam -- 10. Evaluation of Consumers' Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices in Sustainable Consumption: A Romanian Case Study -- 11. Environmental Sustainability Concerns: The Case of the Sundarbans of Bangladesh -- 12. Urbanisation, Access to Affordable Housing and Sustainable Development among Low-Income Earners in Nigeria: Insights from the Bariga Local Council Development Area, Lagos State -- 13. The Condition of Women in Nigerian Families and National Development: The Imperative for Cultural Re-evaluation and Legal Rebalance -- 14. Cuban Tourist Enclaves: A Critical Approach -- 15. The Impact of Environmental Factors on Profit Efficiency in Rice Production in Northern Vietnam -- Conclusion: Development – Prosperity or Disparity? -- Index