The relationship between shari’ah convergence and market-to-book value: A case study of firms in Islamic countries

Abstract

This study ranks 1235 companies operating in 10 different Islamic countries according to their degree of Shari'ah convergence and investigates the relationship between a firm's market-to-book ratio and convergence to Shari'ah rules. We determine Shari'ah screening variables by reviewing existing Shari'ah market indices and their screening rules; variable weights are determined using the criterion impact loss (CILOS) method, a well-known, multicriteria decision-making technique. The results show that the degree of Shari'ah convergence has a statistically significant negative effect on the market-to-book ratio, which can be seen as a proxy for the market value of equity.