Mauss'sThe Gift, or the necessity of an institutional perspective in economics

Abstract

The article proposes a reading of Marcel Mauss's insights into gift exchange in primitive societies through the lens of the institutional economics approach. It thus tries to demonstrate that the gift as seen by Mauss can be interpreted as an institution arising from the self-transcendence of social relationships that gifts themselves are expressly designed to create and according to which individuals orient their behavior. On this basis, we provide elements to discuss the benefits that might derive from the adoption of the institutionalist approach in economics.

A theory of instrumental and existential rational decisions: Smith, Weber, Mauss, Tönnies after Martin Buber

“…an amiable feeling that defines the community. Cedrini et al (2019) basically offer a similar view of Mauss' notion of the gift. They go further to argue that such a view resonates with Thorstein Veblen's (1934) characterization of market exchange, and can, in fact, serve as the foundation of non-neoclassical economics view of the role of institutions (see Hodgson 2000Hodgson , 2003Hodgson , 2006.…”

Institutional analysis and the gift: an introduction to the symposium

“…Both Elder-Vass (2019) and Cedrini et al (2019) discuss the Maussian definition of the gift and its implications for subsequent studies. On the one hand, Cedrini et al present an argument of the 'necessity of an institutional approach to economics' that derives from a certain reading of Mauss.…”

“…Furthermore, focusing on these institutions underlines the problem of the relevance of the gift phenomenon in modernity, and, at the same time, to avoid an understanding of this phenomenon as merely belonging to the sphere of private present-giving (Cheal, 2015).…”

“…In their article, Cedrini et al . (2019) propose a reading of Marcel Mauss's insights into gift exchange using insights from institutional economics and elsewhere. They put forward two basic claims.…”

“…Both Elder-Vass (2019) and Cedrini et al . (2019) discuss the Maussian definition of the gift and its implications for subsequent studies. On the one hand, Cedrini et al .…”