The First International Conference on Islamic Behavioural Finance

CALL FOR PAPERS

The First International Conference on Islamic Behavioural Finance

Dates: 24-25 November 2014

BACKGROUND
Over the past few decades, the behavioural finance theory has largely contributed to the understanding of various financial phenomena that were still puzzling under the standard finance principles. These theoretical principles were further developed and empirically tested resulting in a more sound conventional finance theory. Thus, the behavioural aspect imposed itself as an indispensable component of the finance theory. The same principle applies to the recently emerging Islamic financial system. In this context, though there have been tremendous studies on Islamic finance and Islamic investment, there are very few studies that have addressed specific topics within the behavioural finance framework.
Moreover, it is needless to say that currently, majority of the issues faced by Islamic finance and its future is highly related to the behaviour of investors as well as the other market players. Furthermore, the financial theory has long demonstrated that the investment patterns always have long run impacts on the market movements. In this regards, behavioural finance offers a comprehensive set of tools to identify these investment patterns and their possible influence on the overall development of Islamic finance.
In line with the above progress, and to contribute to the development of Islamic behavioural finance, the current conference is organised by Effat University, which marks the inspiration of the University to become a regional leader in Islamic Finance education and research. The conference will benefit the participants in the sense that it will offer a better understanding of behavioural Islamic finance and the outstanding issues marking the current practice of Islamic finance industry. The conference is also a great opportunity for international networking, particularly with the expected international attendance from various Islamic finance institutions. Furthermore, the conference will expose the participants to the international community of Islamic finance experts.

OBJECTIVES
• To provide a better understanding of behavioural financial patterns in Islamic banking and finance
• To enrich the theory of Islamic behavioural finance
• To highlight the great importance of behavioural finance in developing Islamic finance industry and discipline
• To address various issues currently faced by the Islamic finance industry
• To acknowledge and highlight the financial needs to enhance research and development in Islamic finance by generous contributors like the setting of the Scientific Chair in Islamic Finance.

CONFERENCE THEMES
The main topics of the conference include, but not limited to:

• Behavioural finance theory from an Islamic perspective
• Investors behaviour during Muslim festivities
• Conservatism bias in dual banking systems
• Overconfidence effect in the Islamic investments
• Overreaction/under-reaction and availability bias in Islamic investment
• Disappointment aversion in Islamic finance investment
• Herding behaviour in Islamic banking and finance
• Islamic banking and finance awareness and the self-deception behaviour
• Confirmation bias in Islamic finance investment
• Culture diversity and Islamic finance investment
• Islamic banking and finance and the uncertainty issues
• Islamic securities window dressing
• Current issues in Islamic banking and finance
• Miscellaneous applications of behavioural finance in explaining investors’ behaviour toward Islamic finance and banking instruments

CONFERENCE LANGUAGES
• English
• Arabic

PUBLICATION OPPORTUNITY
It is expected that the conference proceedings will be published in one of the high quality international ISI journals, and the best selected papers will be published subsequently in an edited book, by an international publisher such as Wiley Finance. The conference output is also expected to lay the ground on the future possible studies in advanced Islamic behavioural finance. This area of research will be subsequently based on mixed methodologies and advanced econometric methods.

PAPER SUBMISSION
Authors are invited to submit their full papers either in English or Arabic, in Word formats. Submissions should be made to the following email address: icibhf@effatuniversity.edu.sa Any submission after the 12th of September 2014 will not be considered. All the papers’ submission are peer-reviewed and the decision notification is made latest by 5th of October 2014.
Both theoretical and empirical papers are considered by the conference. The authors are required to use the following format:

• Length: 10 to 15 pages, Font Times New Roman, size 12, 1.0 line spacing (single space), A4 paper size, Margins: 1 inch or 2.5cm
• Author(s) names, affiliation, correspondence address, and email address should be provided in title page
• An English abstract should be provided for the English papers, and Arabic and English for the Arabic papers
• Between three to six key words should be mentioned by the author(s)
• Tables and figures should be placed in their appropriate location in the paper
• References should follow APA format

CONFERENCE VENUE
Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

IMPORTANT DATES
Full paper submission: 12th September 2014
Notification of paper acceptance: 5th October 2014
Registration deadline: 6th November 2014
Conference dates: 24-25st November 2014

REGISTRATION FEES:
Presenter – Standard registration: $250
Presenter – Student registration: $200
Participant: $100

ORGANISER
The conference is organised by the Effat University in Saudi Arabia.

CONTACT INFORMATION

Effat University
P.O.BOX 34689
Jeddah 21478
Saudi Arabia
Tel: +966-12-6364300
Mobile: +966550519750
Fax: +966-12-6377447
Email: icibhf@effatuniversity.edu.sa