951912 for orchestra.

The work was premiered by the Orchestra of Scottish Opera, 30th September 2009. It was commissioned as part of the New Glasgow Harmonies Festival. Much of the composition focuses on sonority and an exploration of the lower register of certain instruments. This is informed by my profound high frequency hearing loss, which has gradually impacted on how I approach some of the standard orchestral instruments.

Dialogue for bass clarinet and bassoon

This work specifically focuses on the lower register of both instruments, an area I've been led to explore as a result of my profound high frequency hearing loss. It was selected for performance following an international competitive call for scores and premiered at the 16th London New Wind Festival, 22nd November 2013. It was performed by Phil Edwards (bass clarinet) and Glyn Williams (bassoon).

Islamic corporate financing : does it promote profit and loss sharing?

Islamic financing instruments can be categorised into profit and loss/risk sharing and non-participatory instruments. Although profit and loss sharing instruments such as musharakah are widely accepted as the ideal form of Islamic financing, prior studies suggest that alternative instruments such as murabahah are preferred by Islamic banks. Nevertheless, prior studies did not explore factors that influence the use of Islamic financing among non-financial firms. Our study fills this gap and contributes new knowledge in several ways. First, we find no evidence of widespread use of Islamic financing instruments across non-financial firms. This is because the instruments are mostly used by less profitable firms with higher leverage (i.e., risky firms). Second, we find that profit and loss sharing instruments are hardly used, whilst the use of murabahah is dominant. Consistent with the prediction of moral-hazard-risk avoidance theory, further analysis suggests that users with a lower asset base (to serve as collateral) are associated with murabahah financing. Third, we present a critical discourse on the contentious nature of murabahah as practised. The economic significance and ethical issues associated with murabahah as practised should trigger serious efforts to steer Islamic corporate financing towards risk-sharing more than the controversial rent-seeking practice.