Kelum Jayasinghe

Religious “spirit” and peoples' perceptions of accountability in Hindu and Buddhist religious organizations

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to examine how the Buddhist and Hindu people in non-Western societies perceive rational accountability practices in religious organizations, through their respective religious “spirit” and “beliefs” and in combination with broader structural elements of the society. Design/methodology/approach - The interpretive tradition of research, i.e. ethnography based on two in-depth cases from Sri Lanka (a Buddhist temple) and Mauritius (a Hindu temple) is adopted for the data collection. The data are analysed using grounded theory methods and procedures. Findings - In non-Western Buddhist and Hindu societies where peoples lives are bound by a high religious “spirit” the accountability system in the religious organisations is largely visible as an informal and social practice rather than a stakeholder-oriented rational mechanism. It is found that the rational accountability mechanisms are “sacredised” by the Buddhist and Hindu religious “spirit” and subsequently, the accountability systems and religious activities are both influenced by the “structural elements” of trust, aspirations, patronage and loyalty relations, social status, power and rivalries. The accountability practices implemented in these organisations are perceived by the people as being no more than “ceremonial rituals” aimed at strengthening the temples righteous and prudent image to the religious society. Research limitations/implications - The paper raises the issue that accountability practices in community, grassroots-based non-profit organisations are not mere reporting of “facts” relating to economic activities and a “neutral system” giving reasons for the conduct of its leaders. Instead, they initiate new forms of accountability systems and reproduce structural conditions. Originality/value - This is one of the first field studies which examine perceptions of accountability within a Hindu and a Buddhist context, as influenced by the religious “spirit” and internal belief systems of the devotees. Previous studies have mostly focused on Judeo-Christian or Islamic denominations.

The preservation of indigenous accounting systems in a subaltern community

Purpose - The paper aims to examine how indigenous accounting practices are mobilised in the daily life of a subaltern community, and how and why the members of that community have managed to preserve such practices over time despite external pressures for change. Design/methodology/approach - An ethno-methodological field study is employed to produce a text that informs readers about the ways in which people engage in social accounting practices. It uses the concepts of structuration theory to understand how indigenous accounting systems are shaped by the interplay between the actions of agents and social structures. Findings - The case study suggests that it is the strongly prevailing patronage based political system, as mobilised into the subaltern social structure, which makes individuals unable to change and exercise their agencies, and tends to “preserve” and “sustain” indigenous accounting systems. Social accounting is seen as the common language of the inhabitants in their everyday life, as sanctioned by the unique form of autonomy-dependency relationship shaped by patronage politics. Research limitations/implications - The findings imply that any form of rational transformations in indigenous accounting systems in local subaltern communities requires a phenomenological analysis of any prevailing and dominant patronage political systems. Originality/value - This is the first empirical study that focuses on how and why local subaltern communities preserve their indigenous accounting practices over time. This contrasts with previous work that has focused on the presence or absence of accounting beyond work organisations.

Calculative practices in a total institution

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to present empirical evidence on how and why a poor rural community is engaged in certain calculative practices, and how these are embedded in a “total institution” defined in terms of “relations of production” and “relations in production”. Design/methodology/approach - Focusing on the traditional fishing industry in the Sri Lankan village of Kalamatiya, this study employs a qualitative, ethnographic methodology to collect and analyse data. Findings - The underlying calculative practices are shown to resemble an articulated mode of production fabricated with some heterogeneous complexities, especially patronage relations, village cultures, and local capital and political power, rather than mere economic rationalities. Originality/value - The paper argues that the notions of the “total institution” and the “articulated MOP” can inform accounting researchers to conceptualise research sites beyond the organisation as a novel “field” for empirical studies.

‘Agents-in-focus’ and ‘Agents-in-context’: The strong structuration analysis of central government accounting practices and reforms in Nepal

Abstract Drawing on Stones’ (2005) strong structuration theory, the paper unfolds why and how the key stakeholders of central government accounting in Nepal are involved in the reproduction of routinised accounting practices, resisting the externally-propagated changes. Government accountants (the agents-in-focus) through their capability to control the budget routines have enjoyed a powerful social position in their position–practice relations with the agents-in-context, i.e. professional accountants and international consultants, higher-level officers and administrators, auditors, and politicians. Social position along with historically-imbued dispositions and their conduct and context analysis have enabled government accountants to strategically exercise their agency. Government accountants have articulated duality and a dialectic relation with the agents-in-context, which have resulted in the reproduction of everyday accounting practice and the resistance to the World Bank-led reforms, such as accrual accounting and, more recently, the Cash-Basis IPSAS.

Cultural politics of enterprise lending and controls in closely held banks: A case study from Sri Lanka

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to focus on the enterprise lending and control process in closely held banks, with special reference to Sri Lanka. It explores how those processes are being influenced by the distinctive cultural and political processes at organizational and societal levels. Design/methodology/approach The study relies on three cases built upon the life experiences of several employees in a closely held bank, articulating multiple sources of evidence: interviews, observations, documents, archival records, open-ended questionnaires, internet conversations and exchange of e-mails. The data analysis adopts cultural political economy theory. Findings The study’s findings reveal how cultural and political factors, such as egoistic motives and politics, gifts/rewards and a manipulative culture, along with exploitative and discriminatory politics at organizational and societal levels, articulate into the enterprise lending and control process (“five Cs”) in closely held banks. “Rational” enterprise lending and control processes in this context merely become a “ceremonial” practice, serving the petty interest of powerful capitalist business owners. Whereas previous studies emphasize that the criteria (five Cs) discriminate against ordinary people, as distinct from the elite, the findings of this study implicate that over and above that the criteria are set aside when it suits in order to favor or accommodate the elite. Originality/value The paper provides a “qualitative inquiry” on how cultural politics at organizational and societal-level effect on enterprise lending and control process within closely held banks in less developed countries (LDCs). The previous studies on bank lending and control used either large-scale surveys or alternatively devoted their interest toward the role and impact of accounting in World Bank and IMF-led lending schemes and policies, particularly in LDCs.

Accounting in new public management (NPM) and shifting organizational boundaries: Evidence from the Greek Show Caves

Purpose - – The purpose of this paper is to examine how accounting is implicated in the creation and maintenance of organizational boundaries. The analysis focuses on organizations subjected to conflicting objectives as a result of new public management (NPM) reforms. Design/methodology/approach - – The analysis is based on case studies of four cultural organizations (Show Caves) in Greece. Data are collected from semi-structured interviews, informal discussions and document analysis. The paper draws on Bourdieu’s concepts of “field”, “capital” and “habitus” and Llewellyn’s analysis of organizational boundary maintenance. Findings - – The study observes that NPM reforms contributed to shifting organizational boundaries – from cultural/archaeological to economic/financial and this resulted in conflicting organizational objectives. This subsequently created conflicts between key actors (municipal politicians, professional managers and anthropologists). These actors, depending on the positions (and habitus) they occupy, and the capital (political, cultural and symbolic) they hold, are able to bargain for resources (economic capital). The conflicting objectives (archaeological/cultural/historical, political and commercial) that emerged and the tensions that arose between the key players shaped the identities and boundaries of the Show Caves. Originality/value - – The study makes an original contribution by revealing the complexity and struggle between actors and the role of accounting in managing the boundaries. For example, the study explains how financial threshold and accountability structures function within these cultural organizations that are subjected to conflicting objectives in the context of NPM reforms.

Creating and reinforcing discrimination: The controversial role of accounting in bank lending

Abstract This paper examines the controversial role played by accounting within the discriminatory bank-lending practices of a privately owned bank in Sri Lanka. It reports on an analytical auto-ethnography (during the period 1994–2004) coupled with follow-up interviews and reiterated analyses. Data were analysed using Pierre Bourdieu’s concepts of field, capital, habitus and symbolic violence. The empirical findings of the paper illustrate how key capitals at macro levels (social, cultural and symbolic) are mobilised in the dominance structures within the banking lending field and how individuals with given habitus behave and follow given strategies to deploy rational accounting systems at a micro level to translate discriminatory bank lending policies into practice and, as a result, create and reinforce discrimination.

The Public Sector Accounting, Accountability and Auditing in Emerging Economies

The Public Sector Accounting, Accountability and Auditing in Emerging Economies: Insights, Gaps and Some New Ways Forward. The New Public Financial Management (NPFM) and Accrual Accounting in Sri Lanka. Exploring Public Sector Accounting Reforms in an Emerging Economy: A Case of Sri Lanka. Diffusion of the Cash Basis International Public Sector Accounting Standard (IPSAS) in Less Developed Countries (LDCs) - The Case of the Nepali Central Government. Accounting Practices in Tanzanian Local Government Authorities: Towards a Grounded Theory of Manipulating Legitimacy. Factors Influencing the Use of Accounting Information in Tanzanian Local Government Authorities (LGAs): An Institutional Theory Approach. Public Sector External Auditing in Tanzania: A Theory of Managing Colonising Tendencies. About the Authors. About the Editors. Copyright page. Editorial Advisory Board. The Public Sector Accounting, Accountability and Auditing in Emerging Economies. Research in accounting in emerging economies. The Public Sector Accounting, Accountability and Auditing in Emerging Economies. List of Contributors.

The Public Sector Accounting, Accountability and Auditing in Emerging Economies: Insights, Gaps and Some New Ways Forward

Abstract Purpose The purpose of this paper is to introduce and synthesise insights from the papers contained in this special issue on accounting, accountability and auditing in emerging economies. Methodology/approach This paper draws upon general desk research and the papers in this special edition. Findings This paper shows that the rapid development of public sector accounting, accountability and auditing in emerging economies presents theoretical and empirical challenges because of the different ways in which public sector reforms and changes are understood and enacted within institutions. Practical implications This paper provides academics, regulators and reporting organisations with robust evidence to help inform improvements in policy and practice. It is concluded that public sector accounting, accountability and auditing reforms in emerging economies are more likely to achieve set objectives if there is a high degree of local-level involvement in their implementation. Originality/value Drawing together a collection of papers in this emerging research field, this paper highlights many areas where further academic research is needed as well as indicating some new ways forward.

Alternative and Social Accounting

Jayasinghe, K. N., Thomas, D. A. (2013). Alternative and Social Accounting. In M. Parker, G. Cheney, V. Fournier, & C. Land (Eds.), Routledge Companion to Alternative Organization. (pp. 267-279). [Chapter 18] (Routledge Companions in Business, Management and Accounting). Routledge.