Editing Gift economy (section)

===Reciprocity and the spirit of the gift===
[[Chris Gregory]] argued that [[Reciprocity (cultural anthropology)|reciprocity]] is a dyadic exchange relationship that we characterize, imprecisely, as gift-giving. Gregory argued that one gives gifts to friends and potential enemies in order to establish a relationship, by placing them in debt. He also claimed that in order for such a relationship to persist, there must be a time lag between the gift and counter-gift; one or the other partner must always be in debt. Marshall Sahlins gave birthday gifts as an example. They are separated in time so that one partner feels the obligation to make a return gift. To forget the return gift may be enough to end the relationship. Gregory stated that without a relationship of debt, there is no reciprocity, and that this is what distinguishes a gift economy from a ''true'' gift, given with no expectation of return (something Sahlins ''generalised reciprocity;'' see below).<ref>{{cite book |last=Gregory |first=Chris |title=Gifts and Commodities |year=1982 |publisher=Academic Press |location=London |pages=189–194}}</ref>

[[Marshall Sahlins]], an American cultural anthropologist, identified three main types of reciprocity in his book ''Stone Age Economics'' (1972). Gift or ''generalized reciprocity'' is the exchange of goods and services without keeping track of their exact value, but often with the expectation that their value will balance out over time. ''Balanced or Symmetrical reciprocity'' occurs when someone gives to someone else, expecting a fair and tangible return at a specified amount, time, and place. Market or ''negative reciprocity'' is the exchange of goods and services where each party intends to profit from the exchange, often at the expense of the other. Gift economies, or generalized reciprocity, occurred within closely knit kin groups, and the more distant the exchange partner, the more balanced or negative the exchange became.<ref name="Sahlins 1972">{{cite book |last=Sahlins |first=Marshall |author-link=Marshall Sahlins |title=Stone Age Economics |url=https://archive.org/details/stoneageeconomic0000sahl |url-access=registration |publisher=Aldine-Atherton |location=Chicago |year=1972 |isbn=0202010996}}</ref>