Forced gifts: The burden of being a friend

Abstract

The International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), established in 1975, provides evidence-based policy solutions to sustainably end hunger and malnutrition and reduce poverty. The Institute conducts research, communicates results, optimizes partnerships, and builds capacity to ensure sustainable food production, promote healthy food systems, improve markets and trade, transform agriculture, build resilience, and strengthen institutions and governance. Gender is considered in all of the Institute's work. IFPRI collaborates with partners around the world, including development implementers, public institutions, the private sector, and farmers' organizations, to ensure that local, national, regional, and global food policies are based on evidence.

An integrative review of gift‐giving research in consumer behavior and marketing

“…For example, Caplow's foundational piece documents several “gift selection rules” that givers strive to follow, including rules related to surprise, knowledge of the recipient, suitability, and price. Similarly, economics‐based research shows that in some situations, givers follow social norms by scaling their gifts according to the average value of those given within their community (Bulte et al, 2018).…”

Adding insult to injury: Living in a remote location increases the burden of gift expenses among the rural poor in China

“…As a result, people rely more on informal social networks for insurance purposes (Fafchamps, 1999; He & Xie, 2022). Thus, gift expenses become important elements in sustaining informal social networks to cope with risk (Bulte et al, 2018). Gift‐giving is an informal insurance model that helps individuals maintain their social capital, allowing families to share risks and cope with difficulties within a limited network of family members and friends (Chiappori et al, 2014; Fafchamps & Lund, 2003; Geng et al, 2018).…”

“…In 2018, official media in China's Anhui province reported on the unhealthy culture of excessive gift‐giving in certain rural areas, noting that farmers spend up to 30% of their annual income on gifts 2 . From 2006 to 2011, average gift expenses grew by 30% per year, while nominal annual revenue grew by only 20% (Bulte et al, 2018). Some families reduce spending on essential consumer goods to buy gifts.…”

“…Many Asian countries influenced by Chinese culture attach great importance to the important role of gifts in social interactions (Cao et al, 2020; Wu et al, 2021). However, high gift expenses are increasingly becoming a heavy burden for farmers (Bulte et al, 2018; Hu et al, 2021). To this end, exploring the factors that influence farmers' gift expenses would be beneficial for governments to design policies to guide the healthy development of gift culture.…”

Spatially coordinated conservation auctions: A framed field experiment focusing on farmland wildlife conservation in China

“…A field evaluation of a conservation auction would provide useful evidence for policy makers as well as establishing an understanding of whether farmers would be willing and capable to participate in these auctions. Second, China has been referred to as a relational society (Bulte et al, 2018; Zhang & Li, 2003) with people having low relational mobility represented by stable social connections that can be capitalized for different outcomes (Thomson et al, 2018). Additionally, there is extensive literature on the role of social capital in promoting Chinese farmers' environmentally friendly land‐use activities in relation to PES(−akin) programs (e.g., Feng et al, 2023; Gong et al, 2010; Tu et al, 2011).…”