พุทธศาสนาและแนวคิดด้านสิ่งแวดล้อม สังคม และธรรมาภิบาล: กรอบแนวคิดเชิงสถาบันสำหรับความยั่งยืนองค์กรในประเทศไทย

Kiatanantha Lounkaew

Authors

Kiatanantha Lounkaew 1Faculty of Economics, Thammasat University, Thailand

Keywords:

ESG, Buddhist Institutional Capital, Institutional Transmission Mechanism, Corporate Sustainability, Sufficiency Economy Philosophy, Informal Institution

Abstract

This article presents an institutional framework that links core Buddhist principles to the three pillars of Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) in the Thai corporate context. It examines four thematic issues. First, five dhamma tenets — Dependent Origination (paṭicca-samuppāda), the Middle Way (Majjhimā Paṭipadā), Mindfulness (sati), Compassion (karuṇā), and Non-self / Impermanence (anattā / anicca) — correspond directly to each ESG pillar and translate systematically into operational mechanisms. Second, the win-win paradigm in corporate sustainability has a fundamental philosophical weakness: it treats sustainability as an instrument for profit rather than as an intrinsic value. Buddhist ethics offers an alternative grounded in obligation toward all sentient life rather than in returns calculation. Third, the Buddhist Institutional Capital (BIC) framework operates through three institutional channels — normative, cognitive, and regulative — drawing on DiMaggio and Powell (1983) and North (1990). The framework explains why firms located in areas with higher Buddhist temple density exhibit significantly stronger ESG performance, even after firm- and region-level controls. Fourth, the integrative framework developed here provides a basis for empirical research that links ESG integration with Buddhist principles and the sufficiency economy philosophy to strengthen corporate governance. It also informs the design of ESG standards and policy instruments suited to the Thai cultural context.

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