Purpose This paper aims to evaluate the impact of intellectual capital in terms of human capital, structural capital and capital employed on the financial performance of Islamic and conventional banks in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries. Design/methodology/approach Along with the measurement discussion, the empirical analysis examines the relationship between intellectual capital measured through value-added intellectual coefficient (VAIC) and the financial performance of banks in the GCC states by conducting a panel of six GCC countries, including 24 Islamic banks and 32 conventional banks covering 2012–2020 period. Findings This paper shows that while Islamic banks have similar VAIC, human capital efficiency and capital employed efficiency results to conventional banks, Islamic banks have lagged behind conventional banks regarding the impact of structural capital on financial performance. It is argued that this is in contradiction with Islamic ontology and epistemology, which essentialises intellectual capital formation. Practical implications Islamic banks should promote research and development for their intellectual capital at the product, operational and institutional levels, as Islamic banking is considered an alternative financing method, incorporating a new form of knowledge-based institutions inspired by capitalist institutions. Originality/value This study conducts a comparative examination of the intellectual capital performance and its impact on financial performance by using interaction variables to capture any differences between Islamic banks and conventional banks in the GCC countries. The paper also considers the knowledge economy impact as a novelty, which is prominent for the GCC countries. In addition, Islamic ontology’s essentialisation of knowledge and its articulation in the form of intellectual capital within modern understanding is widely discussed, as part of originality. Finally, the findings are located within Islamic ontology and epistemology.

Purpose This paper aims to comparatively examine the impact of the intellectual capital performance on the financial performance of Islamic and conventional banks in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries by classifying intellectual capital as human capital, knowledge creation and innovation processes. Design/methodology/approach Along with the theoretical discussion in essentialising the rationale for intellectual capital formation through Islamic norms, the empirical analysis is formulated through the data generated by disclosure analysis using a panel of five GCC countries examining 408 annual reports from 19 Islamic and 23 conventional banks covering 2010–2019 period. In the analysis of the generated data, both fixed and random effects regression models are used. Findings The findings of this paper suggest that Islamic banks perform better than conventional banks in creating intellectual capital through knowledge creation, human capital and intellectual contribution. While the intellectual capital disclosure index and its pillars are significant for Islamic banks, these variables are not significant for the conventional banks in the GCC countries. Research limitations/implications Considering that disclosed information may not reflect actual experience and performance, factual data could also be used to overcome potential shortcomings of disclosure generated data. Practical implications This paper demonstrates that Islamic banks in the GCC have been successful in their intellectual capital performance, whereby they seem to be performing in line with the Islamic ontology. In addition, the disclosure items used in this paper may guide the Islamic and conventional banks in the process of preparing their annual reports. Importantly, they may use these items as benchmarks in further developing their intellectual capital performance for better financial performance. Originality/value This paper essentialises knowledge development and innovation for Islamic banks through the Islamic cognitive system rather than as a requirement of the market mechanism. Secondly, a comparative analysis between Islamic and conventional banks is presented by acknowledging the peculiarities of Islamic banks in the methodology and disclosure index.

The full-text may be used and/or reproduced, and given to third parties in any format or medium, without prior permission or charge, for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-prot purposes provided that: • a full bibliographic reference is made to the original source • a link is made to the metadata record in DRO • the full-text is not changed in any way The full-text must not be sold in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders.

Purpose This paper aims to investigate and provide an objective appraisal of the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on Islamic and conventional financial institutions and Islamic windows in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries. Design/methodology/approach The panel data techniques are conducted country-wise in each financial institution type: random-effect model, fixed-effect model and Hausman test. Findings The results of the first phase analysis that extends from 1 January 2020 to 30 October 2020 show that Islamic financial institutions are less exposed to the repercussions of the COVID-19 outbreak than the conventional and Islamic window financial institutions in Bahrain, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and UAE. Moreover, the Islamic financial institutions in Saudi Arabia and Oman have not been affected by the COVID-19 outbreak. The second phase analysis for the COVID-19 outbreak that extends from 1 November 2020 to 17 March 2021 confirms the disappearance of the negative impact of COVID-19 on Islamic financial institutions in Bahrain and Oman. Practical implications The findings present that Islamic banks are not as resilient in the COVID-19 pandemic as in the 2008 financial crisis. It can be suggested that regulatory authorities, financial institutions and other key policymakers in the GCC countries should focus on implementing regulatory reforms related to human capital, innovative products, research and development to further develop individuals, societies and institutions within the framework of Islamic ontology to be more resilient in such crises. Originality/value This paper provides a different perspective from existing literature on the pandemics and financial institutions by comparing the stock prices in Islamic and conventional financial institutions and Islamic windows in GCC countries during the COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore, this paper should be considered as a contribution to filling a gap in the literature.

This study explores the relationship between the development of sovereign wealth funds (SWFs) and Islamic finance in the Gulf Cooperation Council countries. It argues that despite a simultaneous growth in both industries in the petrodollar era, there has been insignificant degree of complementary between them and the size of SWFs investments in Islamic finance is limited. Analysis attributes such divergence to the peculiarity of SWFs" objectives, decision-making and investment strategy. Islamic finance has yet to provide low-risk long-term investment opportunities that are more attractive to SWFs than that available in the conventional market, hence bringing the industry under the funds" radar. The study concludes by arguing that despite such limitation, both SWFs and Islamic finance have contributed to economic development and have the potential to overcome such lack of conjunction.

This study analyses the impacts of unprecedented falling oil prices and the COVID-19 outbreak in early 2020 on the stock markets of GCC countries -countries considered as natural resources-based rentier economies. To this end, the research uses daily data for 295 companies under the categories of services, industrial, and financial sectors in GCC countries from January 1, 2020, to February 23, 2021. The analysis was conducted over two phases. The first phase extended from January 1, 2020, to July 30, 2020, while the second phase extended from August 01, 2020, to February 23, 2021. The research utilised 18 random effect models in each phase to capture the impact of the oil price crisis and COVID-19 outbreak on each economic sector in each of the GCC countries. This study's findings reveal that the decline in oil prices and the spread of the COVID-19 epidemic were strong in the first phase, while this impact diminished in most economic sectors in the Gulf countries in the second phase. However, the GCC countries have not been impacted equally by the crisis of falling oil prices and the COVID-19 outbreak. The results show that the hardest-hit countries are Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, and Qatar, respectively, while the least impacted countries are Oman, Bahrain, and Kuwait. Furthermore, the sector-wise analysis results reveal that the industrial sector in Saudi Arabia is the sector most affected by the oil price crisis, and the financial sector in Saudi Arabia is the sector most impacted by the COVID-19 outbreak in the GCC countries.

This chapter investigates the economic changes of the GCC countries within the framework of the nature of economic diversification by analyzing innovation performance indices, economic freedom indices, and doing business indicators. This paper shows that the GCC states’ economic strategies are still limited in their ability to affect economic performance so that their economies are still heavily dependent on natural resources. Thus, this study stresses the need for GCC countries to develop technology- and innovation-based private sectors aside from hydrocarbons in accordance with the endogenous growth theory. This research recommends that each GCC state should support investments in the private sector, which can contribute to the development of innovation and technology.

Reviewer: Erhan Akkas Money, Markets, and Monarchies: The Gulf Cooperation Council and the Political Economy of the Contemporary Middle East is a seminal work by Adam Hanieh on the political economy of the GCC countries. The book scrutinises mainly how the financial surpluses are transferred to the global and regional economy and how the rulers and elites in the region benefit from these corporations through the substantial framework of the critical approach. In general, the book is categorised into eight chapters focusing on the role of the GCC countries in the reshaping of the capitalist world market. By doing this, there are two distinct ways: the first main objective is to present the position of the Gulf's political economy in global-Gulf relations as presented in chapters 2-3; the second is to analyse the role of Gulf's accumulation on wider Middle East region as seen in chapter 4-8. Therefore, it can be said that the study starts by evaluating the Gulf capital primarily from a global point of view, and then closely examines the regional effect and role of the Gulf capital through capitalist partnerships.