A Gift Economy

[Clara T]

Gift economy
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A gift economy is an economic system in which the prevalent mode of exchange is for goods and services to be given without explicit agreement upon a quid pro quo, or the concept of "a favor for a favor" in the Latin language. Typically, this occurs in a cultural context where there is an expectation either of reciprocation—in the form of goods or services of comparable value, or of political support, general loyalty, honor to the giver, etc.—or of the gift being passed on in some other manner. It can be considered a form of reciprocal altruism.
Some examples would be:
? Sharing of food in a hunter-gatherer society, where sharing is an egalitarian safeguard against failure of any individual's daily foraging.
? The Pacific Northwest Native American potlatch ritual, where leaders give away large amounts of goods to their followers, strengthening group relations. By sacrificing accumulated wealth, a leader gained a position of honor.
? Offerings to a deity, spirit, intercessionary saint or similar entities.
? A political machine, in which a politician gives patronage and favors in expection of political support or as a reward for such support.
? A "favor network" within a company.
? A family, in which each generation pays for the education of the next: this is an example where the gift creates an implicit obligation to give a gift to a third party, rather than to the giver.
? Religious tithing.
? Charitable giving or philanthropy.
The concept of a gift economy stands in contrast to a planned economy or a commodity-based economy, a category embracing both market economy and barter economy. In a planned economy, allocation of goods and services is dictated by explicit command and control rather than through relatively informal custom; in commodity-based economies, an explicit quid pro quo is established before the transaction takes place. In practice, most human societies blend elements of all of these, in varying degrees.

More:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gift_economy