Gift Enigma in Economic Theory

The purpose of the essay is to provide an explanation of why gift is hidden in contemporary society, but (above all) in the contemporary economy, when it operates paradoxically in many places of life and of activity of the people. To this end, the essay reviews the different conceptions of the gift (purist, instrumental, relational, rivalistic) with their characteristics and explains the reasons why in modern times especially “relational” gift (the one carried out in the name of reciprocity which establishes, for this reason, social relations), was concealed not only in society, but also within the market (being the paradigm of “homo economicus” based on an idea of an agent individualistic and selfish). The unique gift ideas that are then compatible with the anthropological model of orthodox economic science are “instrumental gift” (where, however, gift is enslaved to personal interest) and “pure gift”, because the latter is individualistic as market exchange to which it would sharply oppose. But “pure gift” can not exist because of the “heroic” characteristics that are required to establish its distance from market exchange. Despite this predicament, in human history “pure gift” has always been more fascinating than “relational gift” for various reasons that are examined in the essay. The essay examines also the theoretical and practical consequences of gift concealment (scientific reductionism and unsustainable economic, social and environmental development processes). So the essay attempts to uncover, in an innovative way, the presence of the gift within the market, highlighting its role as a catalyst and a fluidising of the market and its function as an antidote for some market failures. Particular attention is paid to at microeconomic level, in its various forms (philanthropic gift, relational, instrumental), within the company (in organizational, human, relational capital, and in the acquisition of competitive advantage). The existence of gift in various areas of community life (although more difficult to detect in the economic field) allows to critically refute “homo economicus” paradigm and to expand the concepts of economy (public, private, civil), of goods (private, public, relational, common), of value (exchange, use, bonding), of forms of economic regulation (market exchange, coercion/redistribution, reciprocity). Gift is also an alternative to the schematics of binary thinking: it is in fact the “third paradigm” between market self-interest and the bureaucratic solidarity of the State (Welfare State) and it is also the third way between individualism and holism.