In cultural anthropology and sociology, redistribution is a system of economic exchange within a social group intended to alter the distribution of goods.[1] Typically this involves a strong, political centre such as kinship-based leadership which receives and distributes goods according to culturally specific principles.
An elaborate example of this in a non-market society is the potlatch, where large amounts of personal resources are ceremonially given away to others in the community according to social status, with the tacit expectation that other members of the community would themselves give away large amounts of their own property in the future.[2]
In modern mixed market economies, the central form of redistribution is facilitated through taxation by the state. Redistribution of resources therefore occurs where these resources are allocated back to individuals or groups within society either through the provision of public services or directly through welfare benefits.