This comparative study investigates the time‐varying skills of Shariah‐Compliant and conventional equity fund managers in selectivity, volatility, market return, liquidity, and higher‐order of ...Multidimensional Time‐Varying Skills of Fund Managers: A Comparison of Conventional and Islamic Equity Fundsco‐moments. Additionally, it examines the persistence and causal relationships among these timing abilities. The analysis utilizes equity mutual funds data from January 2010 to June 2022, encompassing three major Islamic countries: Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, and Pakistan, representing over 80% of the Islamic funds market. Employing diverse time‐varying techniques, this study reveals the presence of selectivity, volatility, and co‐skewness timing skills while detecting the absence of a market, liquidity, and co‐kurtosis timing abilities among conventional and Islamic fund managers.
The 2007 Energy Independence and Security Act (EISA) (HR 6, 110th Congress, Public Law 110-140, December 19) mandates the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) program for the consumption of renewable fuels: ...from 9 billion gallons per year (BGY) in 2008 to 36 BGY in 2022. Of this total, up to 15 BGY can come from conventional or corn-based ethanol. The remainder is to come from advanced biofuels. The goal of this paper is to examine alternative pathways of reaching the RFS targets and the implications of each pathway. The other outlet for ethanol is E85, which is used only in flex-fuel vehicles (FFVs). With ethanol as the primary biofuel and either blend limit (E10 or E15), a substantial increase in E85 would be required to fulfill the mandate. Given the importance of ethanol to achieving the mandate, the analysis ignores the 1 BGY of biodiesel and concentrates on the production of 35 BGY of ethanol or other biofuels. The bottom line of this analysis is that it will be essentially impossible to achieve the RFS mandates if ethanol is the primary biofuel because of the blending limit, whether it is 10% or 15%. The constraint is not economic but infrastructural, and it is highly unlikely that adequate infrastructure (we focus on FFVs and dispensers) can be put into place in time to achieve the RFS goals. This analysis estimates the consequences of six alternative RFS pathways. The blend limit is 15% (E15), and cellulosic technology is so expensive that EPA waives the cellulosic part of the RFS.
