Social Institutions

ECONOMIC INSTITUTIONS &

SYSTEM
The ECONOMY is the institution that provides for the
production and distribution of goods and services,
which people in every society need. Sometimes they
can provide these things for themselves, and
sometimes they rely on others to provide them. When
people rely on others for goods or services, they must
have something to exchange, such as currency (in
industrialized societies) or other goods or services (in
nonindustrialized societies). The customs surrounding
exchange and distribution of good and services shape
societies in fundamental ways.
 Social Institutions

ECONOMIC INSTITUTIONS &

SYSTEM
I. MODES OF SUBSISTENCE
• Food Foraging Societies- hunting fishing and
gathering wild plants
• Characteristic of food foraging life
 Mobility
 Small group size
 Egalitarianism
 Communal property
 Flexible division of labor by gender
• Food producing societies (Neolithic Revolution-
domestication of plants and animals by people
with stone based technologies)
 Social Institutions

ECONOMIC INSTITUTIONS &

SYSTEM
• PASTORALISM-breeding and managing
migratory herds of domesticated grazing
animals such as goats sheep and cattle. This is
effective in dry, cold, and steep, rocky places.
 Social Institutions

ECONOMIC INSTITUTIONS &

SYSTEM
•HORTICULTURE-
with the advent of
plant domestication,
some societies took
horticulture in
which small
communities of
gardeners work with
simple hand tools,
using neither irrigation
nor plow.
Example: Kaingin
 Social Institutions

ECONOMIC INSTITUTIONS &

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•AGRICULTURE- is crop cultivation that involve

using technologies other than hand tools, such as
irrigation , fertilizers and wooden and metal plow
pulled by harness draft animals . Some developed
countries used fuel powered tractors to cultivate large
tract of lands.
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ECONOMIC INSTITUTIONS &

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• INDUSTRIALIZATION- replacing
human labor and hand tools with
machines
 Social Institutions

ECONOMIC INSTITUTIONS &

SYSTEM
II. LABOR RESOURCES AND PATTERNS
• Division of Labor by Gender
 Women’s work tend to be confined to
traditional roles as dictated by their biological
characteristics.
 Men’s work tend to be those requiring physical
strength, frequent travel, assumption of high
level of risk and danger.
• Division of Labor by Age
 Elderly people are expected to contribute
much food.
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ECONOMIC INSTITUTIONS &

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Older men and women alike play an essential
role in spiritual matters,
Elders with their past experiences are considered
as repositories of knowledge and wisdom
especially in non-literate societies.

• COOPERATIVE LABOR
- if the effort involves the
whole community, a festive
spirit permeates the work.
Example: Bayanihan
 Social Institutions

ECONOMIC INSTITUTIONS &

SYSTEM
• CRAFT SPECIALIZATION- in contempoary
industrial society, there is a greater diversity of
specialized task to be performed. By contrast, in
small scale society, division of labor typically
occurs in terms of gender or age. With division of
labor, there is specialization.

III. DISTRIBUTION AND EXCHANGE- in

society without money, rewards for labor are
directly compensated.
 Social Institutions

ECONOMIC INSTITUTIONS &

SYSTEM
• REDISTRIBUTION-is a form of exchange in
which goods flow into a central place where
they are sorted, counted and reallocated. It
involves power. Goods are stored in one central
place and then distributed by the leaders in
order to gain or main power; to assure support
of followers; and to establish alliances.
• RECIPROCITY-the exchange of goods and
services of approximately equal value, between
two parties. Example: Gift-giving.
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ECONOMIC INSTITUTIONS &

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• MARKET EXCHANGE-the buying and selling
of goods and services with prices set by rules of
supply and demand. MONEY is an important
means in order to facilitate exchange in the
market.
 Social Institutions

ECONOMIC INSTITUTIONS &

SYSTEM
IV. ECONOMIC SYSTEMS
-is a system of production and exchange of goods
and services as well as allocation of resources in a
society.
-The two dominant economic systems in the world
are capitalism and socialism. Most societies have
varying blends of the two systems. Common hybrids
of capitalism and socialism are welfare capitalism
and state capitalism.
 Social Institutions

ECONOMIC INSTITUTIONS &

SYSTEM
• CAPITALISM- is a system under which
resources and means of production are privately
owned, citizens are encouraged to seek profit for
themselves, and success or failure of an
enterprise is determined by free-market
competition.

EXAMPLE: The United States is one of the most

purely capitalistic societies in the world. Most
U.S. businesses are privately owned, but the
government does regulate business practices.
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ECONOMIC INSTITUTIONS &

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 WELFARE CAPITALISM- is a system that
features a market-based economy coupled with an
extensive social welfare system that includes free
health care and education for all citizens.

EXAMPLE: Sweden allows private business

ownership, but the government controls a
significant part of the economy. High taxes
support an extensive array of social welfare
programs.
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ECONOMIC INSTITUTIONS &

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 STATE CAPITALISM- is a system under
which resources and means of production are
privately owned but closely monitored and
regulated by the government.

EXAMPLE: South Korea’s government works

closely with the country’s major companies to
ensure their success in the global marketplace.
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ECONOMIC INSTITUTIONS &

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• SOCIALISM -is a system under which resources
and means of production are owned by the
society as a whole, rights to private property are
limited, the good of the whole society is stressed
more than individual profit, and the government
maintains control of the economy.

EXAMPLE: China is a socialist country. The

government owns and controls almost all
natural resources.
 Social Institutions

ECONOMIC INSTITUTIONS &

SYSTEM
SOURCE
S:
 SIOCIOLOGY AND
Dr. Zenaida
ANTHROPOLOGY
Q. Reyes, Dr. Diony V. Varela and Prof.
Arthur S. Abulencia
 http://www.sparknotes.com/sociology/social-instit
 https://www.google.com/search

Prepared by:
 J-anne Paula C. Dacusin