Financial resilience among women small and medium enterprise in Malaysia during and after COVID-19: the role of Islamic social finance

• Main Authors: Mahadi, Nur Farhah, Yusuf, Muhammad-Bashir Owolabi, Kassim, Salina, Mohd Yusoff, Syarah Syahira
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Bank Indonesia Institute 2024
• Subjects: BPH104 Islam and poverty; BPH531 Zakat; BPH741 Waqf
• Online Access: http://irep.iium.edu.my/117183/7/117183_Financial%20resilience%20among%20women.pdf; http://irep.iium.edu.my/117183/; https://jimf-bi.org/index.php/JIMF/article/view/2009; https://doi.org/10.21098/jimf.v10i4.2009

The COVID-19 pandemic disproportionately impacted women-owned small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Malaysia, exposing their vulnerabilities and highlighting the need for effective resilience strategies. This study examines the role of Islamic social finance in enhancing the financial resilience of these businesses during and beyond the pandemic. To achieve this goal, the study explores three key areas i.e., identifying factors shaping the financial resilience of women-owned SMEs in Malaysia during and beyond the pandemic, assessing the effectiveness of Islamic social finance instruments in fostering financial resilience for these businesses, and formulating recommendations for effective policies that strengthen the financial resilience of women-owned SMEs, enabling them to navigate future pandemics more effectively. Using a Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) approach, the study investigates the factors influencing financial resilience among women-owned SMEs and evaluates the effectiveness of various Islamic social finance instruments, such as microfinance, zakāt, and waqf. The non-significant results in this study could be due to variations in the sample or differences in how Islamic Social Finance (ISF) was operationalized. The inconsistency between these findings and previous research on the ISF women-owned SMEs financial resilience relationship warrants further investigation and a more nuanced understanding of the influencing factors.