An empirical comparison of sustainable and responsible investment <i>ṣukūk</i>, social impact bonds and conventional bonds

Purpose The objectives of this paper are two-fold: first, to empirically compare and contrast the salient features three financial instruments (FIs), namely sustainable responsible investment (SRI) ṣukūk , social impact bonds (SIBs) conventional (CBs) second, examine differences between perceptions investors developers on FIs. Design/methodology/approach Using a questionnaire survey, 251 completed useable responses were received, representing 42.54% response rate. In examining similarities in characteristics FIs, inferential statistical frequency percentage used. Wilcoxon Mann–Whitney tests conducted investigate FIs developers' SRI SIBs CBs, respectively. Findings results reveal that stakeholders view CBs be statistically significantly different from each other. This shows do not as “old wine new Sharīʿah-compliant bottle” but instead considered CBs. Furthermore, also differentiate Originality/value provides empirical evidence Islamic finance (IF) instrument, represented by is viewed tools, First, it debunks notion IF similar its counterpart. Second, seen illustrating distinct categorisation investing instruments. As such, third, development can provide diversification portfolios unique instrument market.