Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to determine the need of Islamic Accounting Standards – a review of the literature – for Islamic financial institutions (IFIs).Design/methodology/approach: The basis of the paper was stakeholder theory to analyse the need of accounting standards and to design the conceptual framework as evidenced from Accounting and Auditing Organization for Islamic Financial Institutions (AAOIFI). The evidence reviewed suggests the need for Islamic accounting standards to fill the gap in accounting practice among Islamic financial institutions.Findings: The AAOIFI accounting standards serve as a guideline that may reflect the unique characteristics of IFIs and become a useful tool to meet the various needs of IFIs. Currently, one of the major challenges facing IFIs lies in the preparation of the financial statements under different accounting standards and which may lead to problems of comparability, reliability and compliance level measurement. This has resulted in a heated debate among scholars which has hitherto translated to the evolving existing literature surrounding the interpretation of the level of compliance with the Islamic accounting standards. The paper concludes with various recommendations for future research, the most important of which is the need for future studies on how AAOIFI accounting standards can be made mandatory in all Muslim countries.Originality/value: This paper contributes towards a better understanding and acceptability of the need of Islamic Accounting Standards.

This study aims investigate the relationship between expenditure on higher education and economic development in Saudi Arabia. which has invested in higher education and knowledge creation since its independence as part of the sustainable development process. Accordingly, this study aims at conducting an initial survey of the policies of expenditure on higher education in Saudi Arabia and then developing a standard model in which the results of this investment will be measured in achieving the economic development in Saudi Arabia for a period of forty years from (1978) until (2017). Based on econometric instruments; the study model did not succeed in finding a relationship between investment in higher education and economic development in Saudi Arabia.

This study aims to illustrate the impact of adopting Regulatory technology (RegTech) innovations in banks on money laundering prevention effectiveness using Bahrain as a case study. Bahrain has strived to position itself as the banking center of the Arabian Gulf, hence the results of this novel research are informative of the practices in the region. The primary data for this study was collected through a survey instrument distributed to 100 bankers working in Bahrain with expertise in compliance. The results of multivariate analysis indicate that transactions monitoring through RegTech and cost- and time-saving aspects of RegTech, drive money laundering prevention effectiveness to a highly statistically significant extent. However, electronic know your customer (KYC) technologies are insignificant as drivers. This research not only sheds light on the efficacy of RegTech but also raises general awareness concerning the adoption and integration of RegTech platforms for fighting money laundering. In particular, the findings provide specific insights about the deployment of RegTech capabilities in banks in regional banking centers of modest scale.

Purpose: The main objective of the study is to investigate the effect of COVID-19 on accounting education in the higher education (public and private universities) in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). Design/methodology/approach: The study is explorative in nature conducted with quantitative survey approach and using purposive techniques in collecting data. The sample focuses on the teaching staff at public and private universities in (GCC), Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman and Qatar during the COVID-19. Findings: This study presumed to highlight some of the emergent issues faced during the pandemic pertaining the aspects of the COVID-19 and digitizing accounting education and its effect on future direction of digital education. Originality/value: To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first academic paper to study the effect of COVID-19 on accounting education in the higher education in the GCC.

COVID-19 has changed the way we live, communicate and work, as well as altering our feelings. The higher education sector, alongside other sectors, has been severely affected by the pandemic and its serious repercussions. Academic and teaching staff have had to work from home and convert to online teaching, a change which has been met with both negative and positive feelings. The need for new competencies and upskilling, among other challenges, has been encountered. Therefore, the objectives of this study are aligned with exploring the impact of three constructs—self-efficacy, positive feelings and negative feelings—on the performance of academic and teaching staff at public and private universities in Bahrain during the COVID-19 lockdown. Additionally, the impact of self-efficacy on these feelings was explored. A cross-sectional quantitative survey instrument was developed, validated and distributed using 83 valid responses. A two-way approach was followed to evaluate the model using the partial least squares (PLS-SEM) and multi-layer perceptron-artificial neural network (MLP-ANN) techniques. Tests support the validity, reliability and consistency of the measurement scale, as well as the validity of the postulated model. The results revealed a statistically significant relationship between the three constructs and performance. Interestingly, attention is drawn to the impact of self-efficacy on increasing positive feelings and task performance. The impact of self-efficacy on reducing negative feelings is also evident. Analyses of PLS-SEM augmented by MLP-ANN enhanced our understanding of the relationships and gave more support to the use of dual approach analyses in future research. This research adds to COVID-19 global research and the findings increase the knowledge within the literature. The implications of the study’s outcomes should be given attention from higher education authorities and management to raise staff morale and offer training to help sustain performance and mental wellbeing. Lasty, limitations and future directions are discussed.

This paper examines the relationship between the intellectual capital and earnings quality for the listed firms in Bahrain Bourse. This paper is applying the modified Jones model (Jones, 1991) in order to examine the relationship between the intellectual capital and earnings quality. The outcomes of this paper conclude to have high level of intellectual capital and earnings quality as well as a positive relationship between them in all listed firms at Bahrain Bourse. The findings show significant support for the current debate regarding the relationship between the intellectual capital and earnings quality in the Bahraini market. This research is expected to serve as a guide for the regulatory bodies such as Bahrain Bourse, financial institutions management as well as academic researchers in Bahrain.