Kautilya on law, economics and ethics
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore the status of economic analysis of laws relating to property and contracts during ancient times in India.
Design/methodology/approach
Modern research tools are used to present Kautilya's ideas on contracts and property.
Findings
Kautilya implicitly proposes a labor theory of property. He devised economic laws related to contracts, property and tort, which promoted economic efficiency and encouraged ethical behavior.
Research limitations/implications
Current approaches ignore the role of ethics in designing legal rules for promoting economic efficiency.
Practical implication
Unless laws are designed to encourage and promote ethical conduct optimum economic efficiency is unlikely to be achieved.
Originality/value
Kautilya advocated a contract theory (between the ruler and the ruled), which was utilitarian in nature, however, unlike Bentham, he still appealed to the moral motivation.
Keywords
Citation
Sihag, B.S. (2009), "Kautilya on law, economics and ethics", Humanomics, Vol. 25 No. 1, pp. 75-94. https://doi.org/10.1108/08288660910934790
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2009, Emerald Group Publishing Limited