On one level the multicentric model seems to fit a number of features of Dani economic life. A clear separation is observable in the strict distinction between women's work, which is directed towards household production and subsistence support of the family, and men's activities which revolve around capital formation, trading, ritual and warfare. Thus we can talk about a distinct female subsistence and a male prestige spheres. Further boundaries in the economy are suggested by a separation of the male sphere into capital formation, prestige, and trade.
Dani economy, Multicentric Model
| Male | Capital Formation |
| Trade | |
| Prestige | |
| Female | Subsistence |
However a closer look at economic flows indicates that many essential items are used in more
than one final use category and actually serve as a force for general economic integration. The
most important commodity in this regard is pigs, which is utilized in all four final use sectors and
mediates the male/female division insofar as
According to these observations, we may formulate an integrated, or unicentric, model of the Dani economy in which pigs assume the status of a central integrating commodity and, as such, represent a general purpose medium of exchange. i.e., money.