Reciprocity, equivalence, normative behavior and the existence of social prices†

We would like to thank E. O. Schilds for many comments which have proven invaluable in the writing of this paper. In addition to Professor Schilds, Andy Anderson, Murray Brown, Richard Hill, Robert Perruci, Charles Plott, Richard Roistacher, Vernon L. Smith and William H. Starbuck have been of great assistance. The work on this paper was done while both authors were supported by research grants from the Krannert Graduate School of Industrial Administration at Purdue University.

Both functionalism and exchange theory presuppose the existence of a worth ordering of some sort enabling members of a group to evaluate contributions to the group. Thus it is possible for participants to tell which of two patterns of behavior is more functional, or whether or not two social gifts are equivalent etc. Statements by earlier authors regarding this worth ordering are examined. It is shown that they imply that associated with any social group there exists a non‐arbitrary set of exchange ratios (social prices) between various social actions. These social prices can be used to evaluate the contributions of individuals to the group and to determine the rankings of individuals within the group.

Notes

We would like to thank E. O. Schilds for many comments which have proven invaluable in the writing of this paper. In addition to Professor Schilds, Andy Anderson, Murray Brown, Richard Hill, Robert Perruci, Charles Plott, Richard Roistacher, Vernon L. Smith and William H. Starbuck have been of great assistance. The work on this paper was done while both authors were supported by research grants from the Krannert Graduate School of Industrial Administration at Purdue University.