Economics of a Bigman

Regardless of the time period, every society faces the problem of trying to find a way to use its limited, scarce resources in an attempt to satisfy the unlimited wants and desires of its citizenry. Since it is impossible any society to provide everything that its people wants and since it is unlikely that all citizens want the resources used for the same purposes, it is very important for the society to decide exactly how to distribute the resources. The society must decide what it is going to produce with those limited resources, then decide how it is going to produce what it has decided to produce, and finally, once the goods and/or services have been produced it becomes necessary to decide who will receive those goods and/or services. In other words, all societies must face the rationing problem. The answer to those questions is based on the universal assumption that individuals will always make decisions that are in their own best interest. In some societies resources are distributed according to a command system, others rely on a central government to decide, and still others choose to use a market system.

In the command system of Bougainville, there is no organized government or marketplace to dictate the use of resources. The citizens of Bougainville use their scarce resources based on their own self-interest so that each person can try to achieve their own personal goals. In Bougainville, citizens are motivated by the idea of accumulating wealth and power, just as in other societies, yet it is the method by which that wealth is acquired that makes this people different. Wealth and power in Bougainville is acquired as a result of one's ability to share or give away one's possessions which will result in an indebtedness on the part of the receiver. An inability to repay such a debt with an even larger gift will result in an increase in wealth and power on the part of the giver and a decrease for the receiver. As the number of people that owe favors to an individual increases his personal wealth and power continues to grow.

From a microeconomic perspective, the Big Man in Bougainville is faced with the utility maximization problem of trying to increase his utility (satisfaction) while simultaneously facing the constraints imposed by nature and society. The opportunity cost the Big Man will incur while raising the necessary pigs to give away may very well postpone or cancel his ability to give them away. Pigs must be fed very well while they are waiting for the feast to be given away. All of this attention requires a tradeoff of food and time that could be used for other purposes such as feeding and caring for his own family. The Big Man must try to ration his resources so as to satisfy his own needs and, simultaneously, use resources to provide for the day that he will give his feast in an attempt to acquire and maintain respect, favors, and wealth.