معرفت اقتصاد اسلامی

The Theory of "Compensating for Depreciation after Maturity", with Emphasis on the rule of "Action" and "Prohibition of loss"

Seyyed Abbas Mousaviyan / Professor at Research Center for Islamic Culture and Thought     samosavian@yahoo.com
Hossein Meisami / Assistant Professor at Research Center for Banking and Monetary Affairs
Received: 2017/10/29 - Accepted: 2018/03/15     meisamy1986@gmai.com

Abstract
One of the important discussions in the subject of “inflation" is the study of the legitimacy of "compensating for price depreciation in long-term contracts." While evaluating relevant views, this study addresses the question of "how can we use the combination of the jurisprudential rules of action and prohibition of loss in the analysis of the depreciation of money within the framework of Islamic jurisprudence?" To answer this question, content analysis and two-step Delphi method have been used for collecting the views of Islamic banking experts. According to the hypothesis of the paper, "compensation for the depreciation of money before maturity is considered usury due to the person's action. However, after maturity, it is necessary to compensate for the depreciation of money because no action is involved, and one sustains a loss due to the depreciation of money “. The research findings suggest that there are three views on the depreciation of the value of money, including: "being absolutely permitted"; "being absolutely unpermitted"; and "the necessity of a detailed description of severe, moderate and mild inflation." All three perspectives face some problems. In contrast, the selected view, which is based on the rules of action and the prohibition of loss, provides a good theoretical basis for analyzing the depreciation of money in the Islamic framework.

Key words: Depreciation of money, Islamic banking, Rule of action, Rule of Prohibition of loss, Islamic Jurisprudence, Usury.
JEL classification: D53, E52.

Method of Inferring Economic
Theory from the Holy Qur'an and the Sunna

Seyyed Mohammad Kazem Rajaee / Associate Professor of Economics, IKI rajaee95@chmail.ir
Mahdi Khatibi / Assistant Professor of Economics, IKI                    m.kh47@yahoo.com

Received: 2017/06/23- Accepted: 2018/03/08

Abstract

Explaining the method of inferring economic theory from the Quran and the Sunna is one of the prerequisites for theorizing in Islamic economics. Using an "Ijtihadi -analytical" method, this paper presents a method for inferring theories of Islamic economics from the Quran and the Sunna, and adapts its steps to "balance". In the proposed method, after presentation of the subject and initial identification of the variables associated with it, the set of gathered information is added to the current knowledge of economics and the comprehensive study of topics in conventional economics, in three levels of studying the concept, studying the historical course, and discovering the foundations. In the next step, Islamic foundations related to the subject are explored, and the subject-related strategies, which typically appear in the form of five rulings, are extracted from the Qur'an and the Sunna by using an "Ijtihadi" method. Attaching the extracted strategies to the fundamentals leads the researcher to the theory. At this point, the variables associated with the subject are re-evaluated to make sure that no variable is overlooked, or no irrelevant variable has been added to the set of variables. "Integration and consolidation" is the final stage of the process of inferring economic theory from the Qur'an and the Sunna.

Key words: Economics Methodology, Islamic Economics Theory, Inference of Economic Theory, Islamic Economics, Philosophy of Islamic Economics.

JEL classification: B40, B00, C18, P4.

Measuring Total Efficiency Index of Production Factors in the Selected Banks of the Interest -Free Banking System in Iran

Seyyed Mohammad Reza Seyyed Nourani / Assistant Professor at Allameh Tabatabaee University   seyednourani@gmail.com

Reza Vafaee Yeganeh / Ph.D. in Islamic Economics                       r.v.yeganeh@gmail.com

Received: 2017/09/04 - Accepted: 2018/02/13

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the efficiency (productivity and effectiveness) of selected banks in the interest -free banking system of Iran. The study’s presupposition was that interest -free banking system is an introduction to Islamic banking. In terms of content, the research method in this study is developmental, and in terms of data collection, it is analytical-descriptive and survey-based. The data collection method is documentive, library – based and questionnaire. In this study, Delphi method has been used to measure the efficiency index and the approach to measuring the input and output of Islamic banks. Using the numerical index approach, the trend of the total index of production factors in commercial banks is measured with and without considering efficiency. Using the data envelopment analysis (vrs model), the relative efficiency of selected banks in two areas (value added output, total revenue output) is measured. The findings of this study indicate that the average total productivity growth of all production factors without efficacy indices was higher than the productivity index with efficiency indices.

Key words: Islamic banking, Productivity, Efficiency, Effectiveness, Numerical index.   
JEL classification: G21, D24, O47.

Islamic Spectral Rationality versus Rational Choice Theory in Conventional Economics

Parviz Davoudi / Professor at the Faculty of Economic & Political Sciences, Shahid Beheshti University       p_davoodi@yahoo.com

Mohammad Javad Tavakkoli / Assistant Professor at IKI                      Tavakoli@iki.ac.ir

Mohammad Sa’eed Panahi Boroujerdi / Ph.D. in Philosophy of Islamic Economics, IKI          

Received: 2017/08/31 - Accepted: 2018/01/27                                             sd_panahi@yahoo.com

Abstract

Rational choice theory, with two main approaches of pursuing personal gain and internal consistency of choices, is one of the most basic assumptions of conventional economics, and has consistently been criticized by conventional and Muslim economists. In order to introduce a suitable alternative to this theory, conventional and Islamic economists have come up with a new definition of economic rationality. Using the "descriptive-analytical" research method, the present study introduces the theory of "Islamic spectral rationality ". Based on the hypothesis of the paper, rationality in the Islamic approach has a spectral meaning both in normative and affirmative aspects. Based on the Islamic-spectral rationality approach, from a normative point of view, rational choice is a choice with four components: adherence to divine economic duties, comprehensive utilitarianism, comprehensive examination and gathering certain and correct information. From an affirmative approach, this theory also suggests the analogicity of individuals’ rationality. Accordingly, a wise Muslim, when confronted with various options, may have choices of varying degrees of rationality, although some of these choices are considered more rational than other choices.

Key words: Islamic spectral rationality, Utilitarianism, Rational choice theory, Rational choice components, Islamic economics.

JEL classification: D03, B00, P4.

A Comparative Study of the Role of Value-Based Concepts in Organizing the Structure of Economic Systems of Islam and Capitalism

Mojtaba Ghaffari / Ph.D. Student of Islamic Economics, Research Center for Islamic Culture and Thought  economy.islamic@gmail.com

Ahmad Ali Yousefi / Associate Professor at Research Center for Islamic Culture and Thought         
Received: 2017/04/30 - Accepted: 2017/10/16

Abstract

In every economic system, "value-oriented concepts" direct thinking and economic behaviors, and also affect structures. The development and interpretation of these concepts is highly dependent on the accepted ontological foundations. Using the analytical method, this paper analyzes the role of value-based concepts in organizing the economic system. In this analytical and descriptive study, the value-based concepts of the economic system of capitalism and the Islamic economic system are studied comparatively. The results of the research show that the economic system of capitalism, by virtue of its own special value-based concepts, logically has a capitalistic monolithic structure with three components: the "pursuit of personal material gain", "the behavioral principle of free economic competition" and "individual private possession". In contrast, the economic system of Islam, based on its reliance on Islamic value-based concepts, has a four-part structure in which each part is characterized by three specific components. This kind of structural extraction based on value-based concepts indicates the difference in issues, questions and solutions between the Islamic and secular economic systems.

Key words: Value-based concepts, Economic structure, Islamic economics, Capitalist economics.           
JEL classification: A11, B59, P40.

The Status of External Effects
in Conventional and Islamic Economics

Mohammad Hossein Karami / Assistant Professor at Hawzah and University Research Center         

Saeed Goodarzi / MA at Hawzah and University Research Center                                               

Received: 2017/08/03 - Accepted: 2018/01/25

Abstract

“External effects” in the conventional economics can be defined within the framework of market mechanism and the Pareto's optimality. This issue has seldom been discussed in the works on Islamic economics. Using an analytical method, this paper explains the conceptual link between external effects and market mechanism in conventional economics, and criticizes it from the point of view of Muslim economists. Then, the status of external effects in Islamic economics is explained. Based on the research findings, external effects can contribute to Islamic economics in two ways: extracting a conceptual framework from conventional economics and proposing a new term in accordance with the special structure of the optimal Islamic allocation. While the first method faces some problems and limitations, the second method can provide the ground for authentic theorizing in Islamic economics. In the newly proposed concept, external effects do not mean the effects that are outside market mechanism; rather, they mean the mechanism that disturbs the optimal allocation advocated by Islam.

Key words: External effects, conventional Economics, Islamic economics, Market mechanism, Pareto optimality, Resource allocation, Economic efficiency.

JEL classification: D62, H23, P4.