Business Ethics and Government Intervention in the Market in Joseon

Abstract

This paper analyzes the Daedongbeop tax reform to understand management ethics adopted by the kings and elite of late Joseon. Unlike other interpretations that view such reform as evidence of a linear movement towards a capitalist market system, this paper argues that such tax reform represented efforts at defending manorial and mercantilist modes of exchange and highlights the economic and ethical incentives of the Confucian goodwill that reinforced the traditional economic basis of the dynasty. The moral justification of the tax system was Confucian in nature and emphasized its humanitarian principle in contrast with justifications of efficiency for the market mode. As such, the Confucian ethical persuasion helped Joseon to hold on to firm manorial and mercantile rule in East Asia and maintained its hold going into the 19th century.