Purpose
This paper aims to examine the relationship between religiosity level and reasons for saving money in Islamic microfinance institutions [Baitul Maal wat Tamwil (BMT)] in Surakarta and Sukoharjo, Indonesia.
Design/methodology/approach
A chi-square test was used to identify the relationship between religiosity level and saving decisions in BMTs. In addition, the authors tested religiosity level and the reasons for transactions in both BMTs and conventional banking. Data were collected via a questionnaire. A total of 523 respondents from Surakarta and Sukoharjo, Indonesia, participated in the survey. The respondents are customers of 31 BMTs in Surakarta and Sukoharjo.
Findings
The authors find a significant relationship between one’s religiosity and the reason for saving money in BMTs. Products that are in accordance with Islamic principles form the highest reason for saving money in BMTs, followed by quality of service, recommendation from friends and location. In addition, purpose of business is the main reason for transactions in both BMTs and conventional banking. However, there is no significant relationship between religiosity level and the decision to transact in both BMTs and conventional banking.
Originality/value
There is a lack of literature discussing Islamic microfinance institutions, especially in Indonesia. Furthermore, BMT customers have different characteristics compared with those of large banks.
Purpose
This paper aims to examine the relationship between religiosity based on the area with the number of self-employment in an area, i.e. city of Surakarta, Indonesia.
Design/methodology/approach
The researcher conducted a survey in 67 mosques in Surakarta, Indonesia, to capture religiosity level based on the area. Spearman correlation approach has been selected to investigate the relationship between religiosity and self-employment.
Findings
This study found that despite the female population being greater than male population in every district in Surakarta, on average, the number of female prayers were significantly less than male prayers either in Fajr or Maghrib prayer. In fact, the average number of Fajr prayers almost 50 per cent less than the average number of Maghrib prayers. Finally, the researcher found that the number of employees who work in the home industry is higher in the area that has a smaller gap on the number of Fajr and Maghrib prayers. Thus, the researcher might conclude that religiosity is positively associated with self-employment.
Originality/value
To best of researcher’s knowledge, this is the first study that investigates the relationship between religiosity level based on the area and self-employment. In addition, this study proposes a new methodology to measure Muslim’s religiosity. All in all, this study tries to untangle the conflicting evidence on the impact of religiosity on the self-employment.
We examine the role of trust within Islamic culture in business-to-business relationships by exploring the link between credit officers' trust in business customers and their financing decisions. In line with our framework, which is based on the fact that Islamic culture is characterized by a collectivistic approach and clan-based social structure, we find that value-based trust is more important than competence-based trust in explaining business relationships. The results support the argument that Islamic culture business relationships are grounded more on the principles, values and norms that a partner brings to the relationship than on business skills. Our results are robust to endogeneity and multilevel issues. 1 The Hadith is the collected traditions of the Prophet Muhammad, based on his sayings and actions.
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