The multiple logics of Buddhist monastery accounting

Abstract

Research has shown that Buddhist monasteries’ accounting provides detailed and fulfilling accountability requirements to rulers and the public. However, what influenced such practices is under-researched. In bridging this gap, this study adopts an institutional logic framing and identifies three institutional logics: devotional, public and private that appear to have shaped early accounting thought and practices in Ceylonese Buddhist monasteries. The research comprises the analysis of English translations of 122 inscriptions dating from the first to the sixteenth century. The analysis reveals the co-existence and mutual dependence of the three logics, concluding that these logics influenced accounting at the same time. The accounts are also important tools to maintain the co-existence of these competing institutional logics, highlighting a dynamic two-way relationship between logics and accounting. The study demonstrates the role of accounting as a bridging mechanism, temporarily combining logics to exploit complementarities between them, maintain the hybridity of monasteries and preserve their legitimacy. The ability of accounting to represent all logics enables the stability of monasteries over time.