Basic allocation procedures

When there are limited resources, how can giftmoots or non-reciprocal gifting economies determine who should receive resources? The answer in an exchange economy is to give it to whoever pays the highest amount - except in cases when actors intervene in the market, such as government grants, welfare, and the like.

Without money, there are still a variety of techniques to allocate resources. Some of the most basic I'll include in this article, and then I'll review some further ideas in the next few articles.

Consideration

One that I have already talked about is what we might call "consideration", which is simply when someone considers the effect of their gifting. For example, someone might give a gift if it aligns with their self-interest (such providing resources for a sschool they want to send their children to), if they think it could produce some diffuse reciprocity (such as providing food that would sustain workers), if they think keeping the resources is a burden (if it is arduous to store or maintain, such as a second house they rarely intend to visit), or if they think that it would be morally good or socially beneficial (such as providing healthcare).

In these circumstances, a person or giftmoot might decide to allocate resources to one party and not another because they believe that the outcome of the gifting would be worthwhile. A giftmoot might prioritise a hospital over a swimming pool, for example, especially if they think there are not enough hospitals.

This type of social and personal consideration is already in practice in an exchange economy. Investors consider the return tehy might receive on their investment, but they also might prioritise their investments to socially and environmentally beneficial projects, such as banks that refuse to invest in fossil fuels or gambling. Companies, also, consider some of these impacts when they, for example, refuse to run ads on platforms that have endorsed ultranationalist or neo-Nazi sentiment.

In a giftmoot economy these types of considerations would take priority, because there is no profit motivation.

First in, best dressed

A simple way to allocate resources is simply to provide them to the first people who request them. This happens for a lot of goods already, such as when people line up to get the first tickets or newest released phones. For a lot of goods - especially ones where it is not particularly important who receives them, or where they are regularly made (such as fresh bread each day), it might be simplest to implement a first-in, best-dressed policy (whether in person or by some booking method) because it is very low cost.

Lottery

Another simple way to distribute some resources is lottery - simply allocating at random to the interested group. This is done sometimes with concert tickets, where people enter into a pool and a random selection have the first chance to purchase the tickets. In the case of a giftmoot economy, there would be no purchasing part, and the result of the lottery would be the sole way in which the resource was allocated.

Rate-limiting

Rate-limiting can be a fairly straightforward method to determine allocation, though it can be made more complicated as necessary. It might be one of the more useful ways to ensure access to utilities that are somewhat constrained.

Consider the use of water. We can imagine a scenario in which each house has a tank, and the tank fills up at a certain rate. The people in the house can determine when to use water and for what purposes, and they will never run out of water. However, if they want to, for example, have an hour long shower, eventually their tank will run out and they will have to wait for it to fill up again. They therefore have to make decisions about how much to use and when to use it, but they will never be in the position that they cannot drink a glass of water when they are thirsty.

It can be made more complicated if a situation requires it. For example, a consumer could have a set amount of water at a higher rate, but if that is exceeded they are moved to a lower rate, and this could be reset every day or every week. Different people could apply for different rates dependent on their circumstances. The point is that for many resources it is likely possible that limits can be placed on use without ever denying people essential use.

Administration

A final simple method is administrative hurdles. This is a type of barrier that requires the person requesting the resource to use some effort, provide some information or show that they meet some criteria. This is also the case for a variety of resources, such as medicine, which can require a doctor's visit and prescription. But administrative hurdles can also be created where they are not strictly required to sift out those who feel strongly enough about the product to put in the effort and those who do not.