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This chapter investigates the central role that intention (cetanā) plays in Buddhist ethics, the unique perspective into the nature of the self and agency from a Theravāda Buddhist stance. Intention is paramount in determining every mental, verbal, and physical action as wholesome, unwholesome, or neutral in the Buddhist ethico-psychology. Buddhist ethics offer an inclusive, compassionate, and non-theistic perspective into the many moral dilemmas we face today as the mind and its processes, the underlying volition of a thought, context, and circumstances all determine the nature of an action. This is of relevance particularly in the digital age where agency is often imperceptible from societal, legal, and materialistic stances. The virtual world is perceived to be distinct from concrete reality and hence unethical actions considered to be less negative and destructive, and the perpetrators often difficult to trace or made to pay the consequences as societies and legal systems struggle to deal with this new reality. Buddhism has little to say about reforming society but on the other hand provides a refined investigative system of categorization of ethical and unethical actions through its theory of kamma (action) originating in a seed of positive or negative intention in the mind, and the consequences are said to be unavoidable although subject to manifold variations. Although the influence of Buddhism is still fragmented in the West with debates on its relevance, what to adopt, adapt, and discard, it can offer a fresh perspective on ethics, intention, agency, and the self.

Social and environmental accounting research manifests varying levels of awareness of critical global problems and the need to develop alternative approaches to dealing with economy and society. This paper explores Buddhist thought and, specifically, Buddhist economics as a means to informing this debate. We draw on and expand Schumacher's ideas about ‘Buddhist economics’, first articulated in the 1960s. Our analysis centres on Buddhism's Four Noble Truths, the Noble Eightfold Path and associated Buddhist teachings. The examination includes assumptions, means and ends of Buddhist approaches to economics; these are compared and contrasted with conventional economics.To consider how thought and practice may be bridged, we examine a practical application of Buddhism's Middle Way, in the form of Thailand's current work with ‘Sufficiency Economy’.Throughout the paper, we explore the implications for the development of social accounting, looking for mutual interactions between Buddhism and social accounting thought and practice.

This chapter critically explores the colonial model of education in a Buddhist society in postcolonial Bangladesh, as the Buddhist value-based contemplative learning and ethical practices have been constantly challenged due to the fact that the western value-based cultural knowledge is considered for economic development. In such a context, Buddhist learners are unable to learn the social history, cultural heritage, Buddhist/social economy, and spiritual values and practices in the educational institutions. Even teachers are not trained in preparing learners for cultivation of wisdom (Paññā in Pāli) and ecocentric development of the community in the country. On the other hand, Buddhist notion of contemplative learning pedagogy believes in decolonization of the mind and reflective practice for social transformation and development of wisdom through deep meditative mind by nurturing critical dialogue as opposed to capital accumulation and greed-based society. The Buddhist pedagogical approach focuses on mindful concentration (bhavana) and ethical (sila) practice within the learning context and environment, as emancipatory ideology to promote cultural diversity instead of political and social imposition. Such mindfulness would allow both the learners and teachers to create collaborative learning opportunities for life-sustaining practice and wholesome (kusala karma) activity in the community setting. The Buddhist learning pedagogy tends to nurture nonviolence (ahimsa) in order to develop mutual respect among the diverse communities to renewing ground for mind-expanding pursuits in the learning institutions for the wellbeing of all community members in the country.

Purpose – The chapter examines Leopold Pospisil’s claim that the precolonial way of life of the Me, who live in the central highlands of west New Guinea, in many ways resembled capitalism. Pospisil based his claim on his field work among a group of Me, from 1954.Approach – Formulating a characterization of “capitalism” and using it as a yardstick while scrutinizing the available, early ethnographic literature discussing the Me.Findings – The late precolonial life of the Me appears to have been a hybrid one. It contained capitalist elements: such as a currency, accumulation, and unequal division of capital. But in other respects social reproduction, a noncapitalist element, was primary.Research limitations – An important source of information on the Me are the extensive writings of Sibbele Hylkema who worked among the Me from 1969 to 1994. They are for the most unpublished and consist in part of notes. The Me live in an inaccessible area so there is no other contemporary ethnography by which to update or compare and contrast Hylkema’s findings.Originality/value – This chapter is a Literature Review.

As global economic systems become increasingly more complex and dynamic and the universal language of historical accounting is being profoundly altered, the theory and tools we use in neo-classical economics, traditional finance, and valuation are beginning to prove inadequate to the tasks being required of them. Hence, there is a need to consider new avenues of thought and new tools. In this conceptual chapter, I explore the use of real options “in” engineering systems design as a means to achieve more rigorous and insightful results in the design and valuation of economic systems, particularly that of the firm. In the process, I gain further insight into the causes and cures for systemic disturbances generated by the presence and selection of real options in economic systems.

In Burma, sacred giving (dana) is a principal obligation for all Buddhist practitioners. This paper evaluates the practical and cultural underpinnings of donation practices. Dana redistributes resources, it operates as a system for the production of status distinctions and patron-client ties, and as a means to fulfilling proximate soteriological goals and sacred relations. Elaborating on distinctions Godelier draws between “ideology” and “mentalite,” I argue that sacred giving – especially as it is articulated in native theories about intention – participate in a “politics of sincerity” that impact the political legitimacy projects of the military junta.

The resolution of conflicts between shareholders and managers, at minimal cost, is the goal of corporate governance. In 1999, an intriguing series of events occurred that dramatically reshaped the Canadian airline industry. This clinical study considers these events in relation to four corporate governance mechanisms. The results of this clinical study suggest that these four mechanisms may not be sufficient to control a management team that is committed to a course of action and to retaining their positions. In practice, corporate governance can be severely limited, even when the majority of board members are outside directors. In addition, institutional shareholders may not be the disciplining force that theory and logic suggests. Overall, the results imply that managerial entrenchment is a powerful motivating force that may be impossible to counter even for a large, poorly performing corporation that is subject to a very attractive takeover offer.

There are a variety of monitoring and control mechanisms to resolve the agency conflict between shareholders and their agents, the managers. Given the centrality of the shareholder wealth maximisation goal in corporate finance, the function of these mechanisms is to ensure that managers pursue that goal. These mechanisms include: an independent board, outside block shareholdings including institutional shareholders, managerial ownership and incentives, lenders, the managerial labour market and the market for corporate control. We explore the inter-dependency of these control mechanisms and whether and how they complement, or substitute for, one another. The role of the market for corporate control, including proxy contests and outright takeovers, in resolving agency conflicts, the impediments to takeovers and their effectiveness are reviewed. We seek to explain the well-documented failure of acquirers to create value, in terms of the ineffectiveness of the corporate governance system in acquiring companies.