On taxes and on economic regulation
The Kautilyan market tax, in: Journal of the American Oriental Society, 134 (2014), 699-708 (DOI: 10.7817/jameroriesoci.134.4.699).
Kautilya (2000 years ago) describes an unusual tax not encountered anywhere else. The Sanskrit text contains some difficult passages that this paper addresses. See Teaching, Old Indian Texts.
See also the "The Charter of Viṣṇuṣeṇa", coauthored with Sadananda Das
Bookkeeping in the Arthaśāstra, in: Indo-Iranian Journal, 66 (2023) 301–332 (DOI: 10.1163/15728536-06603001).
An attempt to improve the translation of terms, real and monetary, surrounding a premodern Indian king and his finances.
Kauṭilya on legal and illegal cancellations of contracts, in: Indo-Iranian Journal, 60 (2017), 201-218 (DOI: 10.1163/15728536-06003001).
If a buyer in premodern India likes to rescint on a purchase: when and under which conditions can he do so?
On judicial rules
Ordeals: An economic vindication of Ancient Indian 'Nonsense', in: Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, 79.3 (2016), 513-534 (DOI: 10.1017/S0041977X16000550).
Ordeals are used to find out whether the accuser or the defendent is in the right. The defendent has to undergo the ordeal. Cleverly, premodern Indian law texts demand that the accuser agrees to the ordeal. If the defendent is cleared, the accusation was false. In contrast to European ordeals, Indian ones provide a safeguard against gratuitous accusations. See Teaching, Old Indian Texts.
Two puzzles of judicial wagers, in: Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, 2021, 1-13 (DOI: 10.1017/S1356186321000833).
Imagine that you are accused and find yourself in court. In premodern India, you might offer some amount of money (called judicial wager) to the king. The king is allowed to keep this money for himself if he rules against you. Might such a rule allow you to signal your honesty by betting a higher amount than your opponent? See Teaching, Old Indian Texts.
Indian principal-agent theory, or, how Varuna helps the king to be just, in: Asiatische Studien - Études Asiatiques, 70 (2016), 571-589 (DOI: 10.5167/uzh-131829). See Teaching, Old Indian Texts.
A king is not allowed to keep monetary fines for himself, but has to throw them into the waters. Why?
Philosophy
A decision theorist's Bhagavad Gita, in: Journal of Indian Council of Philosophical Research, 33 (2016), 117-136 (DOI: 10.1007/s40961-016-0049-7).
God Krishna advances the idea that one should not act for the "fruit". This is a serious challenge for microeconomics where utility, profit, etc. are just other words for fruit. See Teaching, Old Indian Texts.
Chess
Four-king chess with dice is neither unrealistic nor messed up, in: Board Game Studies Journal, 10 (2016), 33–59 (DOI: 10.1515/bgs-2016-0003).
Chess was invented in India. It serves the didactic purpose of teaching future kings some strategic tricks that Kautilya has examined in his Arthashastra. See Teaching, Old Indian Texts.
Mathematics
Decision theory and probability theory: Pascal’s wager and pre-modern Indian lotteries, in: Indian Journal of History of Science, 59 (2024), 259-268 (DOI: 10.1007/s43539-024-00130-7).
I relate a history from one the Buddha's former lives. Perhaps, the lottery offered in this birth-story to the Buddha-to-be may be the world’s first use of a lottery in order to find out about the strength of a decision maker’s belief.
Gifting
उपकार-धर्मदानयोर्भेदसाधारण्ये (Comparing beneficium with dharmic giving), in: आरण्यकम् (Bi-annual Refereed Sanskrit Research Journal), 26 (2018), 33-38.
A text in Sanskrit where I compare dharmic giving with the concept of beneficium suggested by Seneca.
Have a look at my 2023 book on "Exchange, Gifting, and Sacrificing".
(Symmetric) power
Did Brahmins have Power in Premodern India?, in: Sabine Kubisch and Hilmar Klinkott, Power of the Priests: Political Use of Religious Knowledge. Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter, 2024, 73-93. Open Access at DOI: 10.1515/9783110676327-005.
Why prāṇa is the most excellent among the vital functions, or: the Shapley value in the Upaniṣads, in: Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, 85 (2022), 195-214 (DOI: 10.1017/S0041977X22000817). See Teaching, Old Indian Texts.
It turns out that the Shapley value invented in the last century has premodern Indian forerunners. Check also the economic articles.