DOES PRIVATISATION MEAN COMMODITISATION? MARKET EXCHANGE, BARTER, AND GIFT GIVING IN POST-SOCIALIST MONGOLIA

Abstract

This paper compares the ways in which different livestock and agricultural products are exchanged in post-socialist Mongolia. It tries to explain why some goods are more commoditised than others. The hypothesis is that when marketing or barter exchange with professional merchants entail high opportunity costs, the chosen modus will rather be gift giving or personal barter within local networks. High opportunity costs, in turn, may arise because of the importance goods have for domestic consumption, because of the transaction costs connected with their exchange, or because of a high prestige value, which is not reflected in high market prices.

Citation

Finke, P. (2003), "DOES PRIVATISATION MEAN COMMODITISATION? MARKET EXCHANGE, BARTER, AND GIFT GIVING IN POST-SOCIALIST MONGOLIA", Dannhaeuser, N. and Werner, C. (Ed.) Anthropological Perspectives on Economic Development and Integration (Research in Economic Anthropology, Vol. 22), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 199-223. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0190-1281(03)22007-2