Between the gift and the market: the economy of regard

Avner Offer ()

No _003, Oxford Economic and Social History Working Papers from University of Oxford, Department of Economics

Abstract: The Great Transformation’ from customary exchange to impersonal markets has not been completed. Reciprocal exchange pervades modern societies. It takes the form of ‘gifts’ which are reciprocated without certainty. It is driven by the pursuit of ‘regard’: the approbation of others. The idea is found in Adam Smith. Money is avoided in regard exchanges, because it is impersonal. Instead, the regard signal is embodied in goods, services or time (attention). The personalisation of gifts authenticates the signal. Large-scale reciprocal exchange persists in family formation and in inter-generational transfers. It features in labour markets, in agriculture, the professions, in marketing, entrepreneurship, and also in corruption and crime. Reciprocal exchange is constrained by time and psychic energy, but is likely to persist as a preferred source of regard.

Date: 1996-01-01
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (8)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.nuff.ox.ac.uk/economics/history/

Related works:
Journal Article: Between the gift and the market: the economy of regard (1997)
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:oxf:esohwp:_003

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in Oxford Economic and Social History Working Papers from University of Oxford, Department of Economics Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Anne Pouliquen ( this e-mail address is bad, please contact ).