Narrow Results

This unique study examines the moderation effect of institutional quality (IQ) on the relationship between financial inclusion (FI) and financial development (FD) of 45 Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) countries. For empirical analysis, panel data are used for the period 2000–2016. We use the Arellano–Bond generalized method of moments (GMM) and two-stage least-squares (2SLS) method in our estimations to draw multidimensional results. The empirical results confirm the significant positive relationship between FI, IQ and FD. Interestingly, we find that IQ moderates FI and has a significant positive impact on FD. Our findings are robust to alternative econometric specifications of FI, IQ and FD. Therefore, policymakers must sensibly understand the pivotal role of FI and IQ in establishing sustainable future development of OIC countries.

In this chapter, we discuss the current state of women’s rights and their socio-economic participation in Muslim majority countries. The chapter also sheds light on effective legislation for promoting gender equality. Secondly, the chapter also presents the Islamic perspective of the gender equality and difference debate. It highlights the Islamic teachings, required social attitudes and the rationale for having certain prescribed differences in assigning roles to both the genders in the Islamic institution of family. We find that there is a difference in relative importance and strength of the institution of family in Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and non-OIC countries. Nevertheless, in some of the conservative OIC countries in Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and Africa, there are specific attitudes toward socio-economic participation and mobility of women, which require a revisit. We find that the labor force participation and the upward mobility in the corporate hierarchy is lower for women than men; however, it is nonetheless not insignificant.