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Gifting, exchange and reciprocity in Thai annual reports: Towards a Buddhist relational theory of Thai accounting practice

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  • Constable, Philip
  • Kuasirikun, Nooch

Abstract

This paper analyses the inter-relationship of human agency and socio-economic structure in the determination of Thai accounting. It demonstrates that determination of accounting practice lies neither in the individual agency of human practice, nor in the forces of socio- economic structure per se, but rather in patterns of relational practice. Drawing on the theoretical framework of Mauss (1925) to analyse accounting practice as revealed in Thai company annual reports, this paper elaborates a Buddhist relational theory of accounting practice that focuses on the importance of patterns of practice generated by gifting, exchange and reciprocity. It studies the ways that accounting as evidenced in the relational practices of Thai annual reports creates patterns of corporate, societal and state identity in late 20th and early 21st-century Thailand. The article also relates this Thai Buddhist conceptualisation of practice to other theoretical approaches, particularly Foucault, Giddens and Latour, which accounting historians have adapted to express the interaction of human and structural agency in practice. In doing so, the paper seeks to highlight some of the limitations in such accounting theorisation and emphasise the importance of a focus on normative patterns of relational practice as an explanation of accounting formation.

Suggested Citation

  • Constable, Philip & Kuasirikun, Nooch, 2018. "Gifting, exchange and reciprocity in Thai annual reports: Towards a Buddhist relational theory of Thai accounting practice," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 1-26.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:crpeac:v:54:y:2018:i:c:p:1-26
    DOI: 10.1016/j.cpa.2017.08.002
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    Cited by:

    1. Forsberg, Per, 2023. "Symbols in wood as a means of reciprocity: Accounting and social cohesion in pluralistic economies," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 96(C).
    2. Constable, Philip & Kuasirikun, Nooch, 2020. "From cosmological to commercial form: A Buddhist theory of ‘form’, ‘space’ and ‘stream of re-becoming’ in mid-19th century Thai accounting," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 72(C).

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