Reciprocity

Serge-Christophe Kolm is Professor of Economics at the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales, Paris.

• List of figures; Foreword; Part I. Facts and Forms: 1. Presentation; 2. Evidence and scope; 3. Giving and exchanges; 4. Forms and structures of reciprocity; Part II. Motives: 5. The three worlds of reciprocity; 6. Balance reciprocity; 7. Liking reciprocities; 8. Other reciprocities: continuation, relational, imitation, extended; 9. Reciprocity and social sentiments; 10. Reciprocity in the modes of economic realisation; Part III. Values and Reasons: 11. The values of reciprocity; 12. Reciprocal corrections of market failures; 13. Reciprocity in trust, and intrinsic values; 14. Normative uses of reciprocity; 15. The logic of good social relations; 16. How and why? Understanding and explaining reciprocity; Part IV. The Economics of Reciprocity: 17. General methodology of reciprocity analysis; 18. The theory of comparative, matching, or balance reciprocity; 19. The theory of liking reciprocity; 20. Strategic interaction and process preferences; 21. General properties about processes; 22. Solutions of reciprocity games - comparisons; 23. Reciprocity in the understanding of society and its economy; References and bibliography.

Review of the hardback: 'Over the last forty years Serge-Christophe Kolm has produced a body of writings that show him to be one of the most creative and profound economists of our day. In his ability to go the core of the matter - whatever it is - he has few equals. In Reciprocity he offers the fullest analysis of the topic to date, by any social scientist - a true summa.' Jon Elster, Collège de France