The Gift Relationship

2013 ◽  
Vol 44 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-36 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter D. Ashworth
Keyword(s):  
Evolutionary Psychology ◽  
Adam Smith ◽  
Cost Benefit ◽  
Exchange Theory ◽  
Economic Exchange ◽  
Gift Giving ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Gift ◽  
The Cost

Abstract Derrida (1992 / 1991) made the case (following Mauss, 1990 / 1925) that the ‘pure gift’ is impossible. Because of the element of obligation and reciprocity involved, gift relationships are inevitably reduced to relationships of economic exchange. This position echoes the exchange theory of the social behaviourists, the cost-benefit analyses of evolutionary psychology, and other reductionist conjectures. In this paper, 18 written accounts of gifting are analysed using established phenomenological tools of reflection. It is shown that the dynamics of the gift relationship are complex (for example the statuses of giver and recipient are problematical, as is the expression of gratitude) and, specifically, reciprocation in gifting is not akin to ‘repaying’ the gift, but should rather be seen as a response to the gift as an expression of affective affirmation, rendering this mutual. Gift giving is in the expressive realm rather than the practical (Harré, 1979). This was, intriguingly, known explicitly by Adam Smith (2006 / 1790).

scholarly journals The Gift of Qurbani Meat: Ethnological Reflections

Illuminatio ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 162-209
Author(s):  
Ugo Vlaisavljević
Keyword(s):  
Bosnia And Herzegovina ◽  
Jacques Derrida ◽  
Social Bonds ◽  
Gift Giving ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Gift ◽  
Close Relatives ◽  
The Sacrifice

The article considers two customs traditionally followed by Muslims of Bosnia and Herzegovina during Eid Al-Aḍḥā (‘Festival of Sacrifice’ or Kurban Bayram). These are, first, giving a small amount of money, so-called bayramlık, to children as a reward or gift in return for handing out Qurbani meat to neighbors, and, second, giving the meat to non-Muslims. The topic will be explored in the light of Marcel Mauss’s seminal essay on the gift, since Qurbani appears as a gift that identifies, marks and renews the social bonds not only of close relatives, but also of friends and neighbors. In this context too, we will meet what Jacques Derrida calls the aporia of the gift. The slaughtering of Qurbani animal is a true gift, precisely because it is an impossible gift. It may be considered as a giftless giving: although the sacrifice is unthinkable without the slaughtered animal, it cannot be a gift to God. However, after the human act of sacrifice is performed, it is God Who makes the gift to men - because He commands that the victim’s meat must be shared. It is then to be understood not as a returned gift, but as an act of God’s hospitality, which gives to men the very possibility of gift giving. It is argued that the two Bosnian customs draw their ultimate meaning from the divine hospitality vividly experienced in the ritual of sacrifice.

The Role of Science

2011 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gilles Saint-Paul
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Population Distribution ◽  
Cost Benefit Analysis ◽  
Cost Benefit ◽  
Social Planner ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Cost ◽  
Gains And Losses ◽  
Social Engineer

This chapter describes the social sciences. Unlike the natural sciences, the social sciences are inevitably statistical. When documenting human behavior, for example, they can at most claim that a trait is present in a certain fraction of the population. However, the social engineer of the paternalistic state must take into account that the “science of happiness” that is being implemented does not apply uniformly to all individuals. A policy that benefits some by preventing mistakes or removing their biases harms those who are immune to these issues. This difficulty, however, entirely disappears as long as the state is utilitarian or, more generally, pursues any objective that aggregates welfare between individuals, for the statistics are the only thing the utilitarian needs to know. Once the population distribution of the relevant effects and mechanisms is known, the social planner can safely use it to balance gains and losses across incarnations and perform the cost-benefit analysis of its policies.

Environmental costs and their impact on the net present value of a hydro-electric project in Kerala, India

2003 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 311-330 ◽  
Author(s):  
V. Santhakumar ◽  
Achin Chakraborty
Keyword(s):  
Net Present Value ◽  
Cost Benefit Analysis ◽  
Cost Benefit ◽  
Environmental Costs ◽  
Benefit Analysis ◽  
Costs And Benefits ◽  
Net Benefit ◽  
Pulp Industry ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Cost

This paper presents the operational procedures involved in incorporating the environmental costs in the cost–benefit analysis of a hydro-electric project. The proposed project, if implemented, would result in the loss of 2,800 hectares of tropical forests and dislocation of two settlements of about 200 families who are currently dependent on the forests for their livelihood. The forests are mainly used for extracting reed – a material used both by traditional artisans and the paper-pulp industry. The potential environmental costs and benefits of the project are identified and approximate estimates of some of these costs are made for items such as carbon sequestration, bio-diversity, and so on, based on similar estimates made elsewhere. These estimated environmental costs are incorporated into the analysis, and the hypothetical estimate of the non-use value, which would make the project's net benefit zero, is estimated under different discount rates. The analysis brings into sharp focus some crucial factors that have a direct bearing on the social trade-off involved in the project choice.

The Price of Friendship

2018 ◽  
Vol 52 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 117-136
Author(s):  
Maria Salomon Arel
Keyword(s):  
Early Modern ◽  
Gift Giving ◽  
Early Modern Europe ◽  
Community Based ◽  
Building Relationships ◽  
The Social ◽  
Growing Body ◽  
The Gift ◽  
Networks Of Support

Abstract This article discusses the gift-giving behaviour of English merchants involved in the Russia trade in the Muscovite era. Drawing on a small, but growing body of historical literature relating to the role of gifts in the cultivation of mutually beneficial relations between people across the social spectrum in early modern Europe, it explores the various ways in which the English deployed the practice of giving to their advantage, both in England and in Russia. In particular, as ‘strangers’ in Russia who operated beyond the parameters of traditional kin- and community-based networks of support, English merchants (and other foreigners, such as their Dutch competitors) needed to both ‘befriend’ Russian clients on the ground in every-day trade and nurture relationships in high places to ensure smooth, profitable, and secure business. As the sources reveal, they engaged in a variety of gift-giving behaviours in building relationships with Russians advantageous to their enterprise.

scholarly journals Climate-Smart Agriculture in the Northeast of Brazil: An Integrated Assessment of the Aquaponics Technology

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (9) ◽  
pp. 3734 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maíra Finizola e Silva ◽  
Steven Van Passel
Keyword(s):  
Food Insecurity ◽  
Arid Regions ◽  
Cost Benefit Analysis ◽  
Cost Benefit ◽  
The Social ◽  
Smart Agriculture ◽  
The Cost ◽  
Positive Results ◽  
Semi Arid

The purpose of this study is to determine if aquaponic systems can reduce food insecurity in the semi-arid regions of Brazil and generate income for the beneficiaries. Aquaponics is a potentially sustainable way to produce food based on gardening, hydroponics and aquaculture. A case study, based on a project called Aquaponova, was developed. The aquaponic systems currently used in the project are non-commercial and designed for households with limited resources. The data based on six existing systems within this project were used to compare the costs and the benefits. The cost–benefit analysis covers four scenarios and three financing options. The results show that aquaponic systems have a large potential and can reduce food insecurity in semi-arid regions while generating income for the beneficiaries. Even if the system only produces 40% of the total estimated production, the system will still be feasible. However, the low opportunity cost of labour is an essential factor for obtaining these positive results. Moreover, the social benefits, such as a community spirit and the health benefits of the system, should not be underestimated.

Evaluation of Non-marginal Projects

2012 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christian Gollier
Keyword(s):  
Social Welfare ◽  
Social Welfare Function ◽  
Cost Benefit Analysis ◽  
Investment Project ◽  
Cost Benefit ◽  
Cash Flows ◽  
The Social ◽  
Macroeconomic Effects ◽  
The Cost ◽  
Future Cash Flows

This chapter shows that the cost-benefit analysis can be used only if the actions under scrutiny are marginal, that is, if implementing them has no macroeconomic effects. Otherwise, one needs to go back to the basics of public economics to evaluate these actions. The chapter examines the error that one makes by following the classical discounting approach when evaluating non-marginal projects. The evaluation of non-marginal projects must be done by measuring their impact on the social welfare function. A non-marginal investment project with positive future cash flows will have an impact on welfare that is smaller than when estimated by using the standard discounting method.

Religious Ethics, Gift Exchange and Capitalism

2003 ◽  
Vol 44 (3) ◽  
pp. 293-324 ◽  
Author(s):  
MARCEL HENAFF
Keyword(s):  
Gift Exchange ◽  
Religious Ethics ◽  
Gift Giving ◽  
The West ◽  
The Social ◽  
Economic Practices ◽  
The Gift ◽  
History Of ◽  
Spirit Of Capitalism ◽  
Catholic Ethic

This study intends to reread Max Weber's Protestant Ethic with the following question in mind: where is the Catholic ethic with respect to “the spirit of capitalism”? The few short comments that Weber makes on this topic nevertheless suggest an interesting notion which he had developed in earlier texts, i.e., the “religious ethic of brotherhood”. I intend to show here that this notion could be further illuminated by the findings of the anthropology of gift giving since Marcel Mauss. This would enable us to understand how the problem of grace, so central to the debate between Protestants and Catholics, is linked to the history of the transformations in the gift giving practices; we will also discover that this problem was at the origin of the schism. While such a hypothesis leads to a different reading of Weber, it is confirmed by a work of the historian B. Clavero which brings out the complex links that existed in 16th century Catholic Spain between the order of business and that of charity. Besides the antagonism that has marked the two Christian traditions in the West, what seems to be at issue is the way in which economic practices weight on the social bond. These questions invite us to rethink the connections between them.

scholarly journals Pigou in the 21st Century: a tribute on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the publication of The Economics of Welfare

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ottmar Edenhofer ◽  
Max Franks ◽  
Matthias Kalkuhl
Keyword(s):  
Cost Benefit ◽  
100Th Anniversary ◽  
Social Cost Of Carbon ◽  
Tax Base ◽  
The Social ◽  
Magnum Opus ◽  
The Cost ◽  
Commitment Problems ◽  
Political Success ◽  
Academic Debate

AbstractThe year 2020 marks the centennial of the publication of Arthur Cecil Pigou’s magnum opus The Economics of Welfare. Pigou’s pricing principles have had an enduring influence on the academic debate, with a widespread consensus having emerged among economists that Pigouvian taxes or subsidies are theoretically desirable, but politically infeasible. In this article, we revisit Pigou’s contribution and argue that this consensus is somewhat spurious, particularly in two ways: (1) Economists are too quick to ignore the theoretical problems and subtleties that Pigouvian pricing still faces; (2) The wholesale skepticism concerning the political viability of Pigouvian pricing is at odds with its recent practical achievements. These two points are made by, first, outlining the theoretical and political challenges that include uncertainty about the social cost of carbon, the unclear relationship between the cost–benefit and cost-effectiveness approaches, distributional concerns, fragmented ministerial responsibilities, an unstable tax base, commitment problems, lack of acceptance and trust between government and citizens as well as incomplete international cooperation. Secondly, we discuss the recent political success of Pigouvian pricing, as evidenced by the German government’s 2019 climate policy reform and the EU’s Green Deal. We conclude by presenting a research agenda for addressing the remaining barriers that need to be overcome to make Pigouvian pricing a common political practice.

scholarly journals Adam Smith and the Social Foundation of Agreement: Walford v Miles as a Relational Contract

2017 ◽  
Vol 21 (3) ◽  
pp. 376-404 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Campbell
Keyword(s):  
International Trade ◽  
Adam Smith ◽  
Case Law ◽  
Good Faith ◽  
Economic Exchange ◽  
Mutual Respect ◽  
Relational Contract ◽  
The Social ◽  
Self Interest ◽  
The Law

That the reception in subsequent case law of Leggatt J's outstanding discussion of good faith in Yam Seng Pte Ltd v International Trade Corporation Ltd has been disappointing demonstrates the continuing failure to appreciate the normative constitution of economic exchange and the law of contract. This paper re-examines the concept of economic exchange which may be derived from the work of Adam Smith in order to show that Smith did not conceive of exchange as a system of solipsistic self-interest but as self-interest which is formed on the basis of the mutual respect of the parties to the exchange. The significance of Smith's views for the law of contract will be demonstrated by a re-examination of the rejection of good faith in Walford v Miles in light of those views. Whilst it is moot whether the law of contract should recognise a general doctrine of good faith, that law must become self-conscious of the mutual respect it requires of parties to a contract which is indicated in the concept of good faith.

scholarly journals Road Supply in Central London: Addition of an Ignored Social Cost

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Omid M. Rouhani ◽  
Christopher R. Knittel ◽  
Debbie Niemeier
Keyword(s):  
Social Cost ◽  
Cost Benefit Analysis ◽  
Cost Benefit ◽  
Cost Curve ◽  
Benefit Analysis ◽  
Long Run ◽  
The Social ◽  
Land Rents ◽  
The Cost ◽  
Congestion Charging

Studies examining the social cost of driving usually ignore the opportunity cost of having roads in place: the associated land rents. Especially for geographic regions where land is valuable, including the rent costs may even lead governments to close some roads. By using the London congestion charging zone case, a more general long-run social cost curve is calculated with the addition of the rents. Based on the optimal road usage concept, this study found that including the rents in the cost/benefit analysis significantly affects the results and can increase the social cost by up to 200% and decrease the optimal road usage by 40%.

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