The multiple logics of Buddhist monastery accounting

Research has shown accounting in Buddhist monasteries as detailed and fulfilling accountability requirements to rulers and the public. However, what influenced such practices is under-researched. A key objective of this study is to explore potential influences. An institutional logic framing is used to explore multiple institutional logics affecting accounting in Buddhist monasteries. Three institutional logics are used - devotional, public and private. Using these logics, English translations of 122 inscriptions dating from the first to sixteenth century are analysed. The analysis reveals co-existence and mutual dependence of the three logics, concluding these multiple logics influenced accounting. These same accounts were important tools in maintaining multiple (and competing) institutional logics, highlighting a dynamic two-way relationship. The study demonstrates the role of accounting as a bridging mechanism, temporarily combining logics to exploit complementarities between competing logics, to maintain their hybridity and preserve legitimacy, with representatives of all logics enabling stability over time.