Marginal Revolution: Merit-based gifts

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Merit-based gifts

Last week I gave Bryan Caplan a gift. Not being much of an egalitarian, I explained the gift on the grounds that he is extremely meritorious.

What if we generally gave gifts on the basis of sheer personal merit?

Most gifts are for "occasions," such as birthdays and Christmas. The value of the gift may be correlated with how the giver perceives the merit of the recipient, but rarely is merit the pretext for the gift. Perhaps a general practice of explicit merit-based gift-giving would create too many perceived slights. In contrast, when a holiday is the pretext and the value of the gift is (possibly) linked to merit, we can self-deceive and believe that a small-valued gift simply represents a cheap gift-giver, or a friendship of uncertain strength, rather than our own lack of merit.

But every now and then it is important to stand up to social convention and do what is right. Please give a merit-based gift -- to someone who deserves it -- sometime this month.

Posted by Tyler Cowen on August 9, 2007 at 07:13 AM in Philosophy | Permalink

Comments

i'll ask my boss for a raise. the joy of giving!

Posted by: sa at Aug 9, 2007 7:23:22 AM

Do respectable rivals count?

Posted by: xu at Aug 9, 2007 8:12:03 AM

I remember reading that Charlie Munger, Warren Buffett's partner, gave a gift of a few Berkshire Hathaway shares to Professor Robert Cialdini (who wrote "Influence") just because he liked his work so much.

Which billionaire would be most likely to do the same for Professor Cowen?

Posted by: Nadav at Aug 9, 2007 8:28:08 AM

there's some merit in fulfilling your end of the relationship that allows you to receive "occasion" gifts.

Posted by: joshth at Aug 9, 2007 8:34:23 AM

Christmas and birthday presents ARE merit-based gifts, as long as you decide that the value of the gift will be proportional to the merit of the receiver ("Have you been a good boy this year?").

In that case, Christmas Eve and the birthday is no longer an occasion -- it's a deadline.

Posted by: PEG at Aug 9, 2007 8:53:51 AM

Giving a gift to someone on the basis of his perceived merit would also proclaim and confirm your own merit, making you eligible for gifts from discerning others. I sense a profit opportunity, if your perceptions of merit are convincing.

Posted by: Robert Speirs at Aug 9, 2007 9:12:11 AM

What is merit?

Posted by: Andy at Aug 9, 2007 9:18:50 AM

"Please give a merit-based gift -- to someone who deserves it -- sometime this month."

The secret blog and podcasts weren't enough, eh? Very devious.

Posted by: mtc at Aug 9, 2007 9:51:13 AM

Wouldn't it be a better strategy (from a risk perspective) for each person to give according to the utility they gain from giving the gift? Merit shouldn't play a role in the decision beyond how much we think the person will benefit from the gift.

Giving a quality gift on the basis of a subjective analysis of another person's merit is no different than giving CEOs bonuses and stock options. Which would be fine if the person you are treating this way is your agent.

But your child, or your grandmother? That may teach the wrong values (i.e. it may miss the value of charity altogether) or may give your gift some kind of chilling and impersonal trait.

Be human.

Posted by: Jeffrey Horn at Aug 9, 2007 10:13:21 AM

Merit-based gifts are an essential part of William Godwin's theories of political justice. You see somebody who can do some good, you give him or her what is needed to support them. One Godwinian merit-based gift had a lot to do with Wordsworth getting the time to write early in his career.

Posted by: Erik at Aug 9, 2007 10:50:45 AM

To the extent that merit is correlated with the quantity and quality of
personal relationships, so is your holiday and birthday booty.

Posted by: mobile at Aug 9, 2007 11:32:38 AM

I just went to an amazingly fun, blow-out wedding but waited until afterwards to get a wedding present. They're getting a better gift because the wedding was fun.

Posted by: Adam at Aug 9, 2007 11:54:21 AM

Sent a care package earlier today. Way ahead of you :).

Posted by: Andromeda at Aug 9, 2007 1:51:24 PM

I think that the non-monetary value of a gift would be too diminished if we "generally" gave merit gifts, but the occasional gift unprompted by a specfic date or holiday and motivated by some sort of gratitude seems optimally balanced.

I see the merit-based gift, if restricted to occasional use, as a signal that the giver values the recipient-- and a cheap signal at that, given that its relative rarity should induce a higher sense of pleasure (derived from self-worth or whatever) compared to both the signals from a tradition of randomly sending off a gift about every month and the actual cost of choosing and buying a gift. Gifts for Festivus or frequent gifting make it more an obligation to meet expectations than an opportunity for a high-payout, merit-driven gift.

On an anecdotal level, people seem to love gifts given out of gratitude for some conduct or friendship, and the more unexpected the greater the non-monetary value, but there does some to be plenty of variance in the responses, esp. compared to holidays.

Posted by: Petrarca at Aug 9, 2007 1:57:59 PM

I'm not sure gift-giving practices evolved from feelings of egalitarianism. Whenever I think about what kind of gift would be good for a person, I ask myself what might benefit their life that they would not buy themselves.

I understand the rationality arguments about people choosing what's best for them, and while it might be generally true, it's certainly not specifically true. People have their blind spots. People also have their personal religions -- established habits -- that keep them from acquiring some things that usually don't add utility, but might in rare circumstances.

It's easier to see somebody's blind spots than your own just like it's easier to see another person's personal problems than it is your own. So, a society of gift-givers might become stronger -- in the very same way that a society of traders becomes stronger: a net benefit of utility. And in particular, there may be no other way (until pervasive AI) to achieve those utility benefits.

Eh, it's just a thought.

Posted by: Mathew at Aug 9, 2007 2:47:19 PM

Does sending a check to Muhammad Yunus' Grameen Foundation count as a merit based gift?

Posted by: Shakespeare's Fool at Aug 9, 2007 6:35:33 PM

Gifts given on the basis of merit are, in fact, not gifts at all.

Posted by: George at Aug 9, 2007 9:41:53 PM

Why am I waiting for Robin Hanson to chime in on spontaneous gifts of jewelry?!?

Posted by: Brad Hutchings at Aug 9, 2007 11:56:50 PM

To the extent that merit based gifts provide an additional positive feedback loop, I can see the value in merit based gifts. How else to express your admiration of a peer or friends work than with a nice bottle of wine, or whiskey (to be split between the gifter and giftee, of course).

Posted by: brent at Aug 10, 2007 11:07:52 AM

Hmmm..."merit based gifts." Is that what the kids are calling it?

Posted by: fustercluck at Aug 11, 2007 8:57:36 PM

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Posted by: 无缝管 at Nov 13, 2007 8:28:26 PM

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