tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4748060798655400108.post1682458233414622312..comments2023-11-02T08:55:35.510-07:00Comments on Market Design: Gifts of kidneys and gifts of gratitudeAl Rothhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02232854038397912604noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4748060798655400108.post-53784415923456776572010-05-24T10:59:24.787-07:002010-05-24T10:59:24.787-07:00The columnist's claim that "An essential ...The columnist's claim that "An essential quality of a gift is that it comes with no strings, with no reciprocal obligations. Otherwise, it would be a sort of disguised sale" shows a remarkable lack of cultural understanding.<br /><br />In our culture--and in pretty much any culture--gift giving DOES create ties of reciprocity. This is why it's incredibly awkward when somebody gives you too nice a gift, or when you get a Christmas card from somebody to whom you didn't send one.<br /><br />Or look at the massive experimental economics literature on gift exchange and "reciprocal altruism." Or read Marcel Mauss's classic text, The Gift (required reading in the economic anthropology course I took in college, and in the behavioral economics course I teach).<br /><br />I don't see the point of trying to create an ethic that is so far removed from actual human culture.Stephen Weinbergnoreply@blogger.com