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发展经济学workshop：“Forced” Gifts: a Burden of Being Friend
发布日期：2015-11-11 10:46 来源：北京大学国家发展研究院
11月11 日（星期三）下午2:00-3:30
国发院中国经济研究中心小教室
主讲人：Wang Rui Xin, HKUST
主持老师：张晓波，席天扬，李力行
Title: “Forced” Gifts: a Burden of Being Friend
Abstract: Gift giving is ubiquitous, and plays an important role in fostering reciprocal relationships by signaling friendship (altruism). Such relationships are especially important in developing countries, as they enable individuals to access support or assistance in times of need or hardship. However, gift expenses recently rise fast and become even burdensome in some developing countries. In this paper, we demonstrate in theory that unequal income growth in community may trigger “gift competition” and drive up gift expenses. Although reluctant, people have to spend more on gifts as others do so, even though their own incomes do not increase. By using a unique census-type data set from 26 villages in rural China, we empirically show that gift competition may adversely affect welfare, particularly to the poor people. As average gift expenses rise by 10 percent, people have to increase their gift expenditures by around 6 percent, in expense of their consumptions, to credibly signal their willingness to engage in reciprocal exchange. The paper uncovers the negative side of gift giving, and helps to understand the impact of the rising gift expenses in many developing countries.
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发展经济学workshop：“Forced” Gifts: a Burden of Being Friend
发布日期：2015-11-11 10:46 来源：北京大学国家发展研究院
11月11 日（星期三）下午2:00-3:30
国发院中国经济研究中心小教室
主讲人：Wang Rui Xin, HKUST
主持老师：张晓波，席天扬，李力行
Title: “Forced” Gifts: a Burden of Being Friend
Abstract: Gift giving is ubiquitous, and plays an important role in fostering reciprocal relationships by signaling friendship (altruism). Such relationships are especially important in developing countries, as they enable individuals to access support or assistance in times of need or hardship. However, gift expenses recently rise fast and become even burdensome in some developing countries. In this paper, we demonstrate in theory that unequal income growth in community may trigger “gift competition” and drive up gift expenses. Although reluctant, people have to spend more on gifts as others do so, even though their own incomes do not increase. By using a unique census-type data set from 26 villages in rural China, we empirically show that gift competition may adversely affect welfare, particularly to the poor people. As average gift expenses rise by 10 percent, people have to increase their gift expenditures by around 6 percent, in expense of their consumptions, to credibly signal their willingness to engage in reciprocal exchange. The paper uncovers the negative side of gift giving, and helps to understand the impact of the rising gift expenses in many developing countries.
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