Global Policy最新文献

Syrian refugee entrepreneurs in Norway navigate a financing and support system that they find largely exclusive and unaccepting when it comes to launching and operating a new business. Using a case study of a Syrian Muslim immigrant entrepreneur and a lecture on the topic by a religious leader in a major mosque in Oslo, this paper utilizes a theoretical framework on moral economies and entrepreneurship to argue that there is a “mismatch” between the interests and needs of Syrian entrepreneurs for financial and social support, with the extremely limited offerings available in Norway. This leaves the entrepreneurs challenged to navigate the financial and moral issues on their own. The paper explores four key policy implications along the way that would enhance the possibilities for Muslim immigrant entrepreneurs to access and utilize financial and social support for opening and running a business in Norway. The paper concludes by linking the financial exclusion experienced by the Syrian entrepreneurs to their broader experiences attempting to integrate and become a positive part of Norwegian society through entrepreneurship, which is challenged in this context of exclusion.

Uncovering apt policy for refugee self-reliance is intricate. Refugee entrepreneurship is often hailed as the way forward for such an objective as it deciphers ‘Canvas Ceiling’. However, the lack of financing for unfeasible and unbankable refugee entrepreneurs prevents this from materialising. This article proposes Islamic blended microfinance for refugee entrepreneurship, integrating state support, the private sector, the philanthropic funds, and Islamic values. Our model differs as it is developed through the lens of the competing logic discussed in the institutional theory. Understanding competing institutional logic is crucial as blended finance involves various agents with distinct moral preferences that are often overlooked by policymakers. We test our model in the spatial context of Indonesia, the home of microfinance and blended Islamic finance. The findings outline that the logics of the three agents and religion (Islam) can converge in contextuality and temporality dimensions. A key to attaining this equilibrium is to meticulously design the payoff between the private sector with market logic and the philanthropic institutions with universal community logic, making them contingent on the state of the economy.

The paper aims to assess the global landscape of refugee finance with an overview of global refugee-related financing mechanisms and instruments. Despite the growing refugee population worldwide, most refugee financing mechanisms are characterized by their post hoc, grant-based, small-scale, short-term, and unpredictable nature. This study will analyze the quantum of refugee finance supplied by different donors and intermediary types, the instruments through which they deploy refugee finance, and to where this financing is directed. It will then evaluate their effectiveness in addressing refugee financial inclusion and empowerment. The paper finally suggests alternative instruments and financing mechanisms leveraging Islamic finance, sustainable finance, and fintech. Two key mechanisms are proposed: a Refugee Empowerment Sukuk and a blended finance structure adopting a results-based financing approach. The study recommends developing a proactive approach using event-based financing with early warning triggers, leveraging fintech solutions for traceability and efficiency, and scaling up result-based financing in social impact and humanitarian financing.

This study examines financial structures adopted by Muslim immigrant entrepreneurs in Scotland and the challenges they face accessing state-driven financial support. It explores the effectiveness of different financing models, emphasising how religious values and moral concerns shape financial decisions. The study suggests that formal, top-down state support often clashes with strong religious sentiments, prompting entrepreneurs to seek morally aligned, informal financing alternatives. Focusing on Scotland, particularly cities like Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh and Glasgow, the research highlights the financial integration challenges faced by Muslim immigrants, underscoring their entrepreneurial innovations rooted in religious obligations. The paper analyses financial services available to these entrepreneurs, including the Scottish Growth Scheme, and identifies gaps and opportunities within Scotland's financial landscape. Through in-depth interviews with 26 Muslim immigrant entrepreneurs, the findings reveal a dependence on informal financing sources and a reluctance to engage with conventional banks due to religious prohibitions. This study ultimately provides insight into how financial exclusion, coupled with moral and religious constraints, drives innovation and alternative financial practices amongst Scotland's Muslim immigrant entrepreneurs.

The theoretical foundation of Islamic finance is constituted by the Islamic moral political economy, which aims to provide resource accessibility within the permissibility of Islam to all stakeholders. The complementarity and unitarity nature of the Islamic cognitive system essentialises the interest of all the stakeholders in economic and financial decision-making to rescue humans, the environment and land/water. In this privilege-based understanding paradigm, mutuality and solidarity are considered essential pillars. After its initial emergence in the 1970s in its modern form, Islamic finance has been deviating from its origin towards conventional finance's institutional logic rather than locating itself with the objectives of Islamic moral political economy. This paper argues that sustainable development challenges, along with the refugee and immigration crisis, provide Islamic finance with an opportunity to develop its practices within the substantive morality of Islam as an embedded necessity. This paper suggests that developing qard al-hassan (beneficence loan), funds can help Islamic banks and financial institutions at least partially respond to the call of Islamic moral political economy and can also be an effective instrument to ease the challenges faced by refugees and immigrants.