Thesis

Muslim countries need an Islamic insurance system in order to better develop economically.

This study highlights Luther's ethical commentary on economic matters, concentrating upon normative attitudes toward money, property, price and interest. The purpose is to illustrate the traditions with which Luther's views conform to or deviate from. Luther did not follow the newly formulated economic views of some early modern theologians and philosophers. According to Luther, private property is not a freedom-right in the modern sense (Gerson), but a task given by God as the ultimate owner.

Chapter one analyzes Francis of Assisi's embrace of the leper, a recognition that symbolizes the isolated humanity of a leper as closely linked to his own humanity. This Franciscan element is a key factor in the dialogue between Bonaventure and John Paul II on usury, property, and labor, and a comparative analysis is conducted on their viewpoints. The Franciscans provided Bonaventure with a viable response to the Fourth Lateran Council's call for suitable men trained as ministers.

This dissertation presents empirical evidence on three previously overlooked aspects of the economics of crime. The first essays observes that pawnshops serve the credit needs of low-income individuals and consequently are located in higher crime communities. However, pawnshops are often suspected of being outlets for stolen property and if so, they may stimulate criminal activity. To break this simultaneity, this paper uses usury laws as instrumental variables to identify the causal effect of pawnshops on crime.

Within the Protestant Reformation on the continent of Europe the Church underwent a philosophical shift in interpreting the morality of usury. The leaders of the three major theological streams in the continental Protestant Reformation sought to reform Roman Catholic moral teaching on the practice of usury. This dissertation examines how the leader(s) of each major stream in the Protestant Reformation took a different approach to reforming the view of usury in Christian moral teaching.

This work examines the state ownership and legal classification of arable land, particularly focusing on changes to the landholding system of Egypt during the late Ottoman period initiated by the Ottoman Land Code of 1858 and of Khedive Sa'id's Law. Why was a separate land code established for Egypt, and how closely are the Egyptian reforms of the mid-19th century related to the Ottoman Code of Law? Changes to the Ottoman landholding system were part of an evolutionary process and did not lead to the privatization of miri, state-owned arable land.

This study evaluates the advantages and drawbacks of U.S. socially responsible community investment (SRCI) as a source of loan capital by microfinance institutions (MFIs), which offer loans to low-income entrepreneurs in developing countries. The study finds that SRCI capital offers an appropriate capital source to MFIs. This research examines nine SRCI debt mechanisms, which are compared to determine the benefits and limitations of each from the perspectives of U.S. investors and MFI borrowers.

This critical hermeneutic research tells the stories of enterprises seeking balance between their profits and care for their communities. This work demonstrates business' commitment to creative social action that mitigates community needs or enhances community life. The central premise explores enterprises working for social betterment while maintaining a profit-orientation. Research follows a critical hermeneutic philosophy as applied to an interpretive anthropological protocol for inquiry and analysis.

Saudi Arabia has taken initiatives toward diversifying the economy and steering away from a dependence on oil as the main revenue source. The Saudi Arabian Agricultural Bank (SAAB) was created in 1963 to provide farm operators with interest free credit to purchase equipment and further develop production in order to improve their income. Despite operating for sixteen years, SAAB has fallen short of its goal of assisting a majority of farm operators.