We assess the performance and productivity of Islamic and conventional banks using financial ratios, a two-and a four-component meta-frontier Malmquist productivity index (MPI). We focus on the relatively homogenous GCC region over the 2006-2012 period that covers the global financial crisis. We find that Islamic banks exhibit worse cost and profit performance but are on a par with regards to revenue performance compared to the conventional ones. The components of the meta-frontier MPI suggest that the technology of conventional banks improves markedly in years leading to the financial crisis and declines thereafter. Islamic banks show a similar but more muted pattern. By contrast, the pronounced within-Islamic bank group variation in technical efficiency and technology suggest that Islamic banks are quite heterogeneous as a group. Overall, the MPI analysis suggests that the two bank types are more aligned following the global financial crisis. Policy implications are subsequently discussed.
We explore long-run relationships between Islamic and conventional equity indices for the period 2000-2014. We adopt a hidden co-integration technique to decompose the series into positive and negative components; thus allowing the investigation of the indices during upward and downward markets. We find evidence of bi-directional dynamics during upward, downward and some mixed market movements. However, after adding control variables to our models, only the relationship for the negative components retains its significance; indicating that the Islamic index is the least responsive during bad times. This highlights the robust nature of Islamic investments and a possible differentiated investor reaction to financial information during market downtrends. Implications for practitioners are highlighted in a case study.
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