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Essais de morale
01 Jan 1971-
About: The article was published on 1971-01-01 and is currently open access. It has received 36 citations till now.
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01 Jan 2000
TL;DR: A notable part of life in society consists of interrelated other-oriented behaviour, motivations and sentiments which are neither exclusively self-interested "exchange" nor pure unilateral gift-giving as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: People have various ways of interacting, and in particular of transferring goods and services among themselves. They ‘truck and barter’. They also rob, force, enslave, and otherwise harm others or kill them. And they often also give: they support their families and other groups; they commonly respect their neighbours; they occasionally give to charity, save others’ lives or die for their country; and they often pay for the large public transfers for which they vote. More interestingly, people tend to provide return gifts when gifts have been given to them, and also to take revenge — and this is not only in order to induce further gifts or to deter others from causing future harm. Someone giving as a gift because she received a gift is reciprocity.2 Very generally, a notable part of life in society consists of interrelated other-oriented behaviour, motivations and sentiments which are neither exclusively self-interested ‘exchange’ nor pure unilateral gift-giving — both of which appear as borderline cases. This is the general field of reciprocity, of which the gift/return-gift relationship constitutes the simplest form and component, but which includes many steadier and more complex relations.
172 citations
01 Jan 2006
TL;DR: Altruism, giving and pro-social conduct, and reciprocity, are the basis of the existence and performance of societies, through their various occurrences: in families; among the diverse motives of the political and public sector; as the general respect and moral conduct which permit life in society and exchanges; for remedying “failures” of markets and organizations (which they sometimes also create); and in charity and specific organizations as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: Altruism, giving and pro-social conduct, and reciprocity, are the basis of the existence and performance of societies, through their various occurrences: in families; among the diverse motives of the political and public sector; as the general respect and moral conduct which permit life in society and exchanges; for remedying “failures” of markets and organizations (which they sometimes also create); and in charity and specific organizations. Altruism has various origins: it can be hedonistic or natural altruism in empathy, affection, sympathy, emotional contagion, pity, and compassion; or normative altruism of the moral, non-moral social, and rational types. Giving can be altruistic, aimed at producing some social effect in the fields of social sentiments, situations or relations, an intrinsic norm, or self-interested. Reciprocity, in which a gift elicits another gift, is a pervasive social relation due to either a desire of balance (and possibly fairness), or to liking a benevolent giver (moreover, self-interested sequential exchanges look like it). Joint giving for alleviating poverty and need makes giving a contribution to a pure public good for which efficient public transfers crowd out private gifts. Yet, private giving can be an intrinsic norm or a demand of reason, or it can be motivated by the non-moral concern about judgments of others or of oneself. Families – the institutions for love and giving – are networks of reciprocities. Intertemporal giving includes gifts to future generation through bequests, and to earlier generations through the relevant public indebtedness (“retro-gifts”). Normative opinions about societies, and in particular about justice, imply and require altruism and constitute a form of it. Moreover, altruism is the mark of good social relations and good persons. Altruism and giving have always been analysed by economics, notably by all great economists, with an upsurge of studies in the last third of the 20th century.
72 citations
01 Jan 2006
TL;DR: Reciprocity is one of the main basic social relations that constitute societies as mentioned in this paper, and it consists of being favorable to others because others are favourable to you (and not from an exchange in the strict sense).
Abstract: Reciprocity is one of the main basic social relations that constitute societies. It consists of being favourable to others because others are favourable to you (and not from an exchange in the strict sense). It rests on three possible rationales: (1) balance (comparison, matching), often related to equality and fairness, or to the desire to avoid moral indebtedness; (2) liking because being purposefully favoured induces liking which induces favouring, or because liking can directly result from being liked; (3) self-sustaining sequences of mutual favours, which can be solely self-interested (and are not in fact proper reciprocity). Reciprocity extends to important cases of aids inducing aids that are not strictly reciprocal. It has essential social roles in permitting general peace in freedom and respect of rights, the decentralized correction of many “market failures”, the efficient working of organizations of all types through mutual trust and support, and basic relations between individuals and collectivities and governments. It constitutes the essential relation in families and genuine cooperatives, and it is present in all communities. It explains deviations from competitive equilibria, and it is closely involved in questions of development. The theory of reciprocity shows and compares the various types of solutions of the reciprocity game. Reciprocity is compared with other modes of transfers. Ways of explaining it are proposed. Its normative uses associate efficiency, fairness, and the intrinsic quality of social relations.
66 citations
Book•
07 Jul 2008TL;DR: In this article, the three worlds of reciprocity: giving and exchanges, balance reciprocity, and liking reciprocity are discussed, along with the logic of good social relations and how and why.
Abstract: List of figures Foreword Part I. Facts and Forms: 1. Presentation 2. Evidence and scope 3. Giving and exchanges 4. Forms and structures of reciprocity Part II. Motives: 5. The three worlds of reciprocity 6. Balance reciprocity 7. Liking reciprocities 8. Other reciprocities: continuation, relational, imitation, extended 9. Reciprocity and social sentiments 10. Reciprocity in the modes of economic realisation Part III. Values and Reasons: 11. The values of reciprocity 12. Reciprocal corrections of market failures 13. Reciprocity in trust, and intrinsic values 14. Normative uses of reciprocity 15. The logic of good social relations 16. How and why? Understanding and explaining reciprocity Part IV. The Economics of Reciprocity: 17. General methodology of reciprocity analysis 18. The theory of comparative, matching, or balance reciprocity 19. The theory of liking reciprocity 20. Strategic interaction and process preferences 21. General properties about processes 22. Solutions of reciprocity games - comparisons 23. Reciprocity in the understanding of society and its economy References and bibliography.
58 citations
01 Jan 2000
TL;DR: The notion of a return gift can be traced back to the notion of the elementary gift/return-gift relationship as mentioned in this paper, where the initial giver may then give again, and so on, and a gift can then be both a return of previous gifts and a cause of future return gifts.
Abstract: There are gifts, including any act purposefully favourable to someone else and which is neither forced nor bought. Someone who receives a gift often feels the urge or the envy to reciprocate with a return gift, thus establishing a classical ‘gift/return-gift’ relationship. The initial giver may then give again, and so on, and a gift can be both a return gift of previous gifts and a cause of future return gifts. Such relations are reciprocities, including the elementary gift/return-gift. Reciprocities commonly associate several types of sentiment and motivation, such as self-interest, fellow-feeling, induced or reciprocal altruism, moral indebtedness, gratitude, fairness, sense of balance, good social relations, sense of community, norm — and duty — following and ‘proper’ behaviour, and others’ opinion and pressure, in various possible proportions. Pure gift-giving can be seen as a borderline case where the return gift vanishes.
43 citations